


The Ties That Bind

by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, SoKai Day, SoKai Day 2014
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-17 20:05:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 65,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2321651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER/pseuds/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A novel for SoKai Day. The Cycle: an event staged by the Council where people have to reenact what they’ve done recently to prove that they are innocent. Right before Kairi’s name is called as the next contender, Sora begins imagining strange things about her: things he can’t say if they’re real or not. When weird and horrific things begin happening around the Island, it’s up to Sora and friends to save the day before all is lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A story that's written in second person, because I've always wanted to challenge myself by doing so. But remember that "you" is Sora in this. Don't let that confuse you.
> 
> Also, the characters might seem a bit OOC at the beginning (Sora in particular is a bit Neku-y here), but that's for specific story reasons, and they'll get more and more like their canon selves as time progresses, I assure you.
> 
> Also… this story starts really confusing and weird at first glance, but it doesn't stay that way for long, and ends up really KH like later on. Yeah…

**Chapter One: Something Wicked This Way Comes**

You'd decided early on in your life that you wanted to marry Kairi; you just didn't know how that would end up coming to pass, exactly.

It had all started when the two of you had met when you were seven; Kairi having cut her cheek on some of the harsh grains of sand littering the ground, and you being kind enough to come to her aide.

You could still remember easily enough how she had looked at you with wide, trustful and thankful violet eyes then: the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen in that time, as you had finally gotten over your belief that girls might have cooties.

And looking back on it now, though you'd thought it too silly and impossible to believe in back then, maybe... maybe it really had been love at first sight for you. And maybe there, in that one meeting with Kairi, you had also realized that you would always love her.

It certainly seemed true enough to you now, in seeing the lady being smitten by a boy other than yourself.

Riku... how you'd always hated that silver-haired, former friend of yours.

And if you were to be truthful, you'd admit that you might have been a  _smidgen_  jealous of his features. After all, no one else in the world had his coloring, and how could Kairi-who had come to like the both of you as friends as she'd grown up—ever choose you, when you weren't rare like that in the slightest?

Still... you'd held onto hope that maybe, just maybe, Riku wouldn't return the redhead's kindness, as he had once been mean to you.

Now, though, as you saw Riku and Kairi flitting outside the window in front of you, you realized that you had hoped in vain.

"Sora, are you paying attention? Look... I need you to move some of these boxes from my room, all right? And anything you see in them, you can have. I won't even put them in storage lockers."

As you came back into focus at your cousin, Roxas', words, you realized just how much like a stalker you had probably seemed. No one else in their right mind would have ever opened the curtains, just to peek out at Kairi—who just happened to be in the same town as you currently were—you realized at once.

But... it was too odd to  _not_  think on it and give it some attention, you mused. Seriously. Twilight Town was, by definition, an obscure, boring small town that no one in their right mind ever dreamed of going to. To that end, you really felt like you couldn't be blamed for spacing out like you had.

What were the chances that Kairi—with Riku, of all people—would be here on the same day that you were supposed to be, after all? Especially with some strangely large portrait in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Rox..." you answered him, just as you pulled your head out of your ass, long enough to realize how much of a jerk you were being—as well as a hindrance to Roxas' needs. Getting your stuff together before moving out was no walk in the park, after all. "And thanks for offering to give me some of your stuff. I really do appreciate it."

At that, Roxas raised an eyebrow questioningly. And with a laugh, you supposed you couldn't really blame him for thinking you a moron or simpleton, or anything like that.

So instead of waiting for him to see if you were being truthful or not, you decided to busy yourself with the robot in Roxas' room—that was just waiting to be picked up by your person.

Robots... they weren't really Roxas' cup of tea, were they, you suddenly recalled. It was for that reason that the first one he'd ever gotten had been from you, so you couldn't help but wonder why-

"Oh. You have that Kairi look on your face again, Sora. Go give her a call why don'cha, or whatever it is you two do. I swear you two have to be the most hopeless couple in the history of the world."

Well... Roxas' spot-on-ness was certainly annoying, wasn't it? Damnit! Had you really been that transparent? Were you seriously turning that much into a girl, you asked yourself, as you purposefully looked at anything but your cousin. Sure Roxas was probably just trying to help you in his own, weird way, but...

"I'm serious, Sora," Roxas said kindly, as he strode closer to you to put a reassuring hand on your shoulder—something you weren't exactly keen on, since he had dust on his arm from where he'd been cleaning earlier. "All joking aside... you should go see your girl. You're even lucky to have one, actually... So if you two need to finally define that that's what your relationship is, you know I'll be all for it."

 _Except… all of_ my _friendships have seemed to defy the norm, so you're probably wrong_ , you thought miserably. Your former, failed friendship with Riku has especially made you leery about having guy friends, as you just ended up thinking they'd all betray you in the end...

Maybe- maybe that was why Kairi had become such a staple in your life, huh?

Anyway, pretending that Roxas' words had at least given you some confidence, you quickly exited his minuscule apartment.

And once you were out in the open sun, looking for Kairi—who still could have been in the park, just a few paces away from you—you thought that maybe you never should have left Roxas' place at all.

Kairi  _was_  before you, you saw with a start, and for whatever the reason… she was sitting on the swing and leaning forward the slightest bit.

And only then, when you were finally seeing her neck in an angle you never had before-as she'd never been comfortable enough around you to flaunt her body like that—you saw the scar dissecting her skin there, so that it split into shades of peach and red evenly, and then you screamed.

Kairi... had she been attacked by someone during the time you were in Roxas' apartment?! Why hadn't you gotten to her sooner, if that was the case? Why?! Your mind might have been a little foggy at times, but Roxas should have seen it all, right?! Unless—unless there was nothing  _to_ see.

And with that positively thrilling thought drifting through your mind, you promptly passed out.

...

It must have been just a little bit later that you woke up in the hospital, with various instruments plugged into your arms and an annoying beeping noise in your ears.

And the first thing your eyes happened to make contact with upon their opening was not Roxas, but rather his girlfriend. And the way that she was looking at you cautiously seemed to speak of it all...

Right. So you must have hallucinated what you'd thought you'd seen and passed out? Idly, you wondered if you'd ever even seen Kairi at all, or if that had all been part of your imaginings as well.

If nothing else, though, the trip to Twilight Town must have been real, you decided. Otherwise, Xion would have had no reason to be with you, so… that was good, right? That gave you some grounding and some perspective, at least.

"Roxas..." you choked out, instantly hating how garbled your voice sounded even to your own years. Maybe... maybe it meant that you'd been unconscious longer than you'd anticipated?

Deciding to think on all of that later, you ended up continuing with the matter at hand somewhat tactlessly: "He must understand me more than I thought he did, if he sent you to help me, Xion. He must realize that I hate guys, and in that... I often hate myself, too."

That sort of self-loathing and pained truthfulness was usually foreign to you, but for the moment you didn't care. Not when you were looking at a girl—though whom you'd always thought as a sister, if that—who looked so much like a darker featured Kairi, that you wanted to scream. You couldn't—you couldn't get the image of Kairi injured out of your mind; it was almost like how you'd met her even, and-

"Roxas knows so much more than you give him credit for, Sora," Xion snapped, with as much irritation in her own voice as you had in yours. And in that moment… you understood that she must have been tired of pretenses, too.

Sighing resignedly, you turned on your side to be able to see her better, as she sat in the folding chair beside you. You even wanted to apologize to her for what you had said about Roxas, but you found you couldn't even begin to. In fact, the blazing look in Xion's eyes even seemed to dare you to try.

Continuing on hurriedly, as if she expected you to partake in a race to see who could talk the soonest over the other, Xion put on a positively livid, and betrayed air, as she said: "You hurt Roxas' feelings, you know. You always do, but I suppose you don't care. I  _know_  you're not insane, Sora, so don't even pretend to be. You just use your  _slight_  mental illnesses to make people feel sorry for you and to be able to be excused for things, but... I- I may have cared about you before, Sora, but I can't anymore. I'm sorry. But you really need to stop being so helpless!"

You should have... expected that Xion would react to you the way that she was now, you thought. She loved Roxas and always had, and for that reason… her first allegiance was always to him, wasn't it? And since you'd been all but insulting him, how had you expected her to act?

Still... you'd hoped that some of your former friendship would have at least carried through, but apparently not. As tears sting your eyes, you were quick to wipe them away: you didn't want her to have the benefit of seeing them, after all, but were pretty sure that she did.

And in any case... she was wrong. You  _were_  insane. So insane, in fact, that you often wondered how you functioned as well as you did in society. Everything- everything hurt. You, your mind, your heart and soul… everything hurt, and you just wanted it all to go away. To go away...

"Sora..." Xion muttered, upon realizing she must have hit a nerve with you. Her hand reached outwards, as if she was trying to comfort you, maybe, but you instantly cringed away from it and further into your mattress.

You didn't want someone's—someone who just proven that you couldn't trust any girl but Kairi—pity. And as it was… she looked far too much like Kairi as she neared closer to you.

And something flashed in Xion's eyes, then. A look that seemed to hint that she was just as hurt by your rebuttal as you had been hers a minute ago.

And for a moment, you regretted ignoring her like you were, and you wanted to set it right—you had been a people person a  _long_  time ago, you knew—but she ended up making the decision for you before you could move to do anything.

Standing up quickly and then straightening her expression, Xion quietly left the room—letting the doorknob catch with a loud clang.

You assumed that she'd truly vacated the premises to sign your release papers, so that you could both get away from each other as soon as possible, but you couldn't be sure of anything anymore. You just couldn't.

...

The next night, when you were back at Destiny Island and preparing to go back to school the following day, you felt a lot better and almost sane. You'd been taking more medicine regularly, so when you opened your science book to study that night—and saw how it was theoretically possible for people to have  _two_  pathways inside their mind-you couldn't see how it connected to your Schizophrenia at all. You just couldn't.

So instead, you yawned, ate a few bits of cabbage, and fell on your back asleep—the way that your T-shirt had risen up, to show off some of the brown fuzz on your stomach, almost making you feel like a hamster.

And then you were lost to the land of dreams: wondering why Roxas needed storage lockers, when he could have just taken everything with him to his new house.

When you woke up a little while later (nearly missing school that was about to start in fifteen minutes), you got ready in a rush, and as luck would have it—when you were running through the school doors, and sliding across the floor in the process—you ran straight into Kairi.

Kairi... she really was a god sent, you thought to yourself merrily. And after having been met with your odd tendencies for many years now, she had even taken to bringing a cane to school along with her, so that way if you hurt yourself on your mad dash to school every day (like you had before)… you'd have something to hobble around with later.

Yes, a lovely tradition that had been going on in your life for many years now. And while most people probably would have seen it as awkward and uncomfortable memories, you saw them only as good ones. Good… because you'd spent them with Kairi, before she'd begun to be distant.

But now, though, as the girl helped you get to your feet (something that made you feel a bit bitter, since you were the guy; shouldn't you have been helping her?), you found that maybe... just maybe one change could happen between you two and still be all right. Just maybe

"Sora..." Kairi chastised you with a reproachful expression, as she pulled you away from the rest of the students who were weaving their way through the hallways.

Only when you'd gone through the little doorway adjacent to the blue, freshman lockers—that would take you to your first class—did she continue on with her irritated train of thoughts. "I've only been telling you to get an alarm clock for the past seven years, you idiot! I mean, don't get me wrong;" Kairi continued on—completely not noticing how you'd started to look as her awestruck, as you realized just all she'd done for you since you'd met.

"I'm glad that you get here in just enough time to get to class, Sora, but still... I'm sure you, as well as I, could do without the heart attack every day. I've covered for you lot of times, y'know? And-"

Never in all your life had you wanted to kiss Kairi as much as you did in this moment. And for once, she'd even trailed off in her ranting—did she see the look on your face, maybe, and know that you wanted to kiss her? And if so… should you go through with it? Or-

But... in deciding not to ruing your friendship, and remembering that you weren't as close as you used to be, what with Riku and everything, you quickly patted her on her lips.

And before you could savor what the feel of the rest of her skin might have felt like against your skin, you quickly told her, "Don't fret too much, Kai. I mean… how about I buy you a doughnut today to make up for it all, okay? Today  _is_  doughnut Friday, after all."

And just like that, Kairi sobered up a little bit (though you thought she might have looked a little guilty at the thought of being bought by food), and you both started laughing.

Around Kairi... you felt better. Whole, even, like there wasn't something wrong with your brain that gave you split personalities. But since you'd been hurt enough in the past, you knew how dangerous that thought could be. And thus... you instantly nipped it in the bud the moment it appeared.

Instead, the two of you began racing through the relatively short and (thankfully) air-conditioned hall, until you finally ended up at the room at the end of the place. Opening the door hesitantly—as you remembered that you'd left your game guide in there before you'd had your excused absence, and now you were worried that the teacher hadn't saved it for you—you let Kairi go in first, to scope out the area, but it was instantly to wish that you had shielded her from it.

Well, fuck. It looked as though your history teacher had decided to have some sort of bowling type game, to help everyone to study for the big upcoming test. And normally... you would have been all for that—though the pink speckled bowling pins, amidst the black room left something to be desired—but you instantly knew what Kairi must have been thinking of.

In the seventh grade, your teacher had made all of his students create chore ideas to do for their mothers for mother's day, and had made the parents vouch that the kids had actually gone through with it all.

The problem was... that Kairi had never done chores before—and her mother wouldn't let her do them, since she thought only the servants should do that—and thus when Mr. Swan had had a bowling day to reward the kids for what they'd done... Not only had Kairi gotten a failing grade, but she'd been excluded from the festivities, as well, which wasn't fair in the slightest.

It had been the last day of school, too. And though you knew that Kairi tried to hide it, she'd never been more humiliated or sad in her life. And likewise, you had never hated another person more than you did that teacher (which was another point against men, in your book).

But since that day had been your graduation from the eighth grade, you'd never thought that you'd have to undergo anything like it again. But here you were: in a room full of bowling pins, which were serving to make Kairi relive terrible memories. You scowled.

But Kairi, proving she was ever the goddess that you had first thought her of, swept all of it under the rug, and didn't look disturbed in the slightest, when she went to ask Miss Vivin if she'd seen the book you'd left behind the other day.

And when she said that she had, and handed it back to you—something that made you feel a quick bout of fanboy glee, despite your best efforts—Kairi's face fell for just a second, as yours lit up.

And in just that moment… you found yourself wishing that the insanity would swarm up in your mind, so that you couldn't he happy when Kairi was so sad.  _Kairi_...

You had... You had meant to say something to her, to try and make her feel better the best way that you could, but in that moment the bell had rung, and Kairi was quick to run to her assigned seat on the other side of the room. Saved by the bell, as it were.

And maybe... maybe that was a good thing. Maybe bringing it up would just make everything worse, you thought. But... Kairi had always been a vocal and affectionate kind of person, so you couldn't imagine that she'd be any different when it came to needing comfort. And for that reason, you found yourself being annoyed at Olette, for not having realized that they were supposed to pick new seats to sit at, when they'd played musical chairs last quarter.

Since she had been the only one not to have a new seat after that event, Miss Vivin had decided to let it go. And since she wasn't a math teacher, you assumed that she thought there was no possible way for everyone to possibly have a new seat from last time. You knew better, though, and you cursed Olette and your teacher both, because it Olette had gotten up that day, you could have been over there by Kairi now, and-

Honestly, could your life get any worse? It certainly didn't feel like it…

Well, if nothing else, at least Leon was being a good sport, and steering the conversation to what everyone's plans for that weekend were, you acknowledged... which was weird in and of itself, since Leon was very quiet and antisocial, but hey: if it got Kairi and your mind off of things, who were you to complain?

"Does this have something to do with the Basketball tournament going on right now, Miss Vivin?" Leon asked good-naturedly, as he inclined his head to the side—looking to you like he was about to nearly fall out of his seat. But Leon always been like that: ever since the teacher had said that she hated people crossing their right legs over their left ones: something Leon had done until she'd said that, you mused.

"The brackets you handed out for us to study with remind me of Mad March, so that's why I ask." The white-haired teacher pursed her lips at that. And, thankfully, that seemed to get Kairi's attention some, and to get her to perk up.

This teacher... got away with more than some of the other ones did—something that Kairi's grandmother had also been good at—so whatever she must have been seriously thinking about saying must have been good, you decided.

"That is a good observation, Leon," Miss Vivin allowed, before she turned her attention to Kairi for whatever reason, and gave her a withering stare. Your skin prickled at that, and despite how much you liked Miss Vivin—and had thought her maybe s good thing for Kairi before that—you suddenly started worrying that maybe it would be a repeat of some years ago, and that Miss Vivin might exclude Kairi from the study game or something.

Instead, though, she began walking around the room—pressing her horned glasses closer to her face, as she did so—and told Leon that, "If I were to want to emulate any game, it would be hockey, but that's a story for another time. Right now, though... Right now we've been studying about various folklores, if you remember correctly, and I thought for this review game, you all could try and make your own—each of you filling in a bracket with your narrative, and pairing your idea off against others'. It'll be a good practice to all of you, since this kind of thing will be on the test.

"Now, to start off, allow me to give you a prompt: If 'GOLF' formerly meant 'gentleman only; ladies prohibited', what do you think 'BOWL' could stand for? I want you all to write out your ideas about that."

Well, that was certainly interesting, you thought—looking at Kairi to see if she was on the same wavelength as you were. Unfortunately, she wasn't. Maybe she was still focused on her bad memories about bowling?

Anyway... you could have sworn that your teacher would have wanted you to come up with a story about hockey, if anything. A hockey novel had even been of the ones she'd assigned you, hadn't it? And since when—since when had she ever liked golf? And since when had it ever meant what she said it did, you thought mystified?

It was weird, even, that she could get away with saying that acronym in class. Granted, Miss Vivin always risked things—and had had you read racist things like Tom Sawyer, even—but still.

Shooting your hand up into the air, you were quick to try and explain your point, and if you were lucky—to try and turn the situation into something that wouldn't be harmful to Kairi.

It was a weird move on your part, though, seeing as how you hadn't risked talking in class since you'd been diagnosed. You were pretty sure everyone thought you were a freak, and as it was... you hated to fan those flames. But for Kairi... for her you'd do anything.

"'Scuse me? Miss V? I don't—I don't think I understand, exactly. You want us to each make up our own definition—through storytelling, maybe?—and there isn't one answer? Or is there, and you want us to find it? Also... is this game going to be about us telling stories in front of everyone in class. That's— well, that's kind of embarrassing, to be honest."

And you failed to see how it connected to History at all. Wasn't this something better suited for English class? But then again... your classes had sort of been connected since you'd begun studying, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and now Folklore. So maybe it made perfect sense to the curriculum, and you just couldn't see it?

That must have been it, you thought. You were- you were insane, and had voices in your head, after all. Maybe she'd explained all of this on another day, even, and you'd just been distracted and missed it?

In the end, she didn't give you much of an answer: just said to figure it all out for yourself, in that annoying way that teachers often left you up a creek without a paddle if you just happened to accidentally upset them.

Scowling into your desk irritably, you promised yourself that if/when the class had to split up into teams to bowl as a reward, you would make sure that Kairi was on your team.

And though she, of course, still needed much comforting for what she'd gone through in the past, you found yourself selfishly wishing she'd say something nice to you, since you'd just gotten snapped at by Miss V for the first time ever.

Yep... as much as being insane sucked more than anything you could ever imagine, there were some times when it was almost nice to be oblivious to the harsher reality of things.

And right now... right now you desperately wanted to act like you'd been able to understand your teacher's dismissal at all. Kairi also seemed to feel the same way, as she looked at Riku like he was her personal life preserver, just as you were her.

And now… now you found yourself wondering if you really had seen her in Twilight Town yesterday. The way that she and Riku were acting around each other now might have hinted at their meeting. Maybe. Either that, or you were even loonier than you'd thought.

If only… if only Xion could have been right about you faking your illness, but unfortunately for you, you weren't that lucky.

...

Whether it was through some sort of divine intervention you didn't believe in, or something else entirely, Kairi didn't end up seeking Riku out at the end of class like you'd thought she would.

Instead, she happily agreed to work with you on the project, and when she did just that... Well, you found yourself wanting to kiss her again, like you had back in the hall earlier that day, but you reigned yourself in. You knew that what she really must have valued was your distracting her. But even so… it made you beyond ecstatic.

So when the two of you started walking home from school together—brown and orange summer leaves taking up the white, sidewalk path before you—you were in much a better mood than you had been in years: even thoughts about your mind not working were leaving you alone, and maybe… maybe that's why you missed, when the two of you ended up at the strange ice cream shop that had opened up at the end of the other street.

There was... there was something about this parlor that you didn't like. Sure, it's rounded design—so that it shot upward, to look like a twirling dip on a cone—was nice and inviting. And the yellow of it spoke of the summer that you yet wanted to lose, but... it was just such an odd place for a shop to be located: at the end of a dead-end alley that had been vacated for as many years as you could remember.

Kairi, if the way she nervously shifted her weight was anything to go by, must have felt the same. You noticed how she purposefully walked away from the huge pair of scissors in the ground, that seemed to mark the entrance to the place, and you couldn't blame her in the slightest. You still weren't entirely sure that the odd decoration in the ground wouldn't skewer you, if you weren't careful.

And if  _you_  thought that... you couldn't even imagine what Kairi might have thought of it, with her delicate features and pacifist attitude.

Seeming to read your mind, and give you your answer all in one go, the redhead hooked her fingers on your shirt cuffs, and then quickly began hauling you away. "Let's... let's go, Sora. We must have been distracted, and took a wrong turn somewhere. Let's hurry up and get home now, I don't want my parents to worry about me."

Though you hated to admit it, you would have been more than okay with Kairi's parents worrying a little bit, if it meant she kept her hand on your wrist, and continued to look at you with her beautiful, amethyst gaze.

But... as it stood, you did owe a lot to Kairi's parents, for letting her be the only constant presence in your life. So giving her a curt nod, so your voice wouldn't give away how much her love—though platonic, you guessed—meant to you, you began heading back with her in the direction you'd come.

It was a good thing you were doing this, too, you thought when you noticed that Kairi had stopped shivering, and was once again walking with a little bit of pep in her step. Though you didn't think that any criminals would ever hit your small, peaceful—and all around boring, if you were being honest—town, you knew that girls had much more reason to fear things than guys did. So if you could make Kairi feel just a little bit more secure in walking home from school, you would do it.

She must have liked your efforts, too, you realized. For acting much like she had when you were kids, she quickly clasped your hand in her own, and then crashed into your shoulder with her own, before hurrying away with her sweet giggle permeating the air. You relished in the sound.

Running to catch up to her, you put your hands in your pockets—feeling a chill coming on—and then meant to have a light, conversation with your best friend, but...

Somehow, though, you failed miserably in that—perhaps thoughts about anyone hurting Kairi if you weren't there to help her had set you on edge—and you ended up blurting out what you'd been wondering all day long, "Were you and Riku in Twilight Town at all yesterday? I thought—I thought I might have seen you. And it's totally fine if you two were, by the way! I just- I just remember seeing you holding a large painting, and I know how you hate art now, so..."

Oh, god. Could you have sounded anymore like a jealous ex? You asked yourself, as you ducked under the nearest tree, so that the shade could maybe block some of your blush.

And now... now that the two of you were back on track again—getting near the sanded parts of the Island, that were more what you were accustomed to seeing—you knew that Kairi would be nearing her home any minute. And you... you really didn't want to leave the conversation like this.

So maybe... maybe you could go inside and make small talk with her parents, and then think of something to set things right with her? If it gave you just a few more seconds with Kairi, you didn't see how it could be bad, so-

Kairi laughed again, as she passed the last tree on the road, and paused to pick up an acorn that had fallen from it.

Turning to you with swimming, amused eyes, the girl held both of her hands up, palm forward, so you knew she wasn't making fun of you. And then, she set to putting your mind at ease: the sun reaching out towards her, to make her even more beautiful, as she began talking as poetically as you'd always known she was capable of.

"Sora... I think you need to get your eyes checked, maybe. Riku and I were, in fact, in Twilight Town yesterday. It's crazy that we didn't see you, though, if you did us, but maybe we're just blind... But I- I don't know what you mean about me carrying a picture. You're right in that I'm against people doing art now, since the artists aren't paid enough for their work. I wouldn't- I wouldn't have been holding a portrait even by my favorite painter, okay?

"Not when we're about to be made to reenact stages of our lives again. That would get way too expensive to pay for, thank you very much."

As Kairi's words washed over you, you couldn't help but look at her stupidly. She was at her house now, which meant that she was safe, and need only knock on the door to be let into safety… but there was so much you wanted to say to her, and now you had no time

For one thing… was Kairi really revealing that she had no idea where Roxas lived? If so, you probably had imagined her in Twilight Town, huh? What were the chances she would have just happened upon Roxas' house, after all?

And she'd also brought up the Cycle, hadn't she? And ugh. You'd probably have to be tested, despite your mental disorder, too, wouldn't you? You could never understand why certain places felt the need to test their people about everything they'd done in the previous years.

Every five years or so, the Council would make every citizen reenact something that they'd done recently—you were always put on the spot, too, so you couldn't prepare for it—so they could better predict who was a criminal by how they reacted to the test.

And if that were true, and Kairi really had been asked to come in for the Cycle all ready, that meant you couldn't have seen her with a picture yesterday. If she were to buy one, the Council members would make her fork over an equal amount of money to them during the ceremony. And here you'd thought the government couldn't get any more corrupt…

You must have looked mad then, for stopping in where she'd been about to climb up a rose lattice to her room—the sharp red of Kairi's hair clashing deeply with the pink flowers, and blue sky she'd been drawing closer and closer to—she returned to where you stood, to put a reassuring hand on your shoulder and give you one of her most award winning smiles. How you loved Kairi's smiles...

"It isn't- It isn't all bad, Sora," she said, as if she wouldn't have had to pay double for a non-existent picture, if your crazed mind had been right. "I mean... sure our home is a bit… tyrannical, but the Cycle," she said, with a weird lilt in her voice that you didn't fully understand. "The Cycle isn't the worst thing I've ever heard being done. It's actually sort of fun, I think. You almost get to be an actor for a day. And since that's a type of media I still support, I'm all for it."

Kairi laughed at her own words—laughed like you once had, when you'd been the comedic relief in your friendship, but you couldn't be anymore. Not anymore.

And acting... though if Kairi liked it, it gave it some immediate points in your book... you couldn't help but hate it with a passion.

Why should perfectly normal people get to pretend to be insane, when you couldn't even  _dream_  of pulling off a sane act, without having your hopes and dreams instantly demolished. Even Xion, who had thought you were faking it some, had still conceded you weren't right in the head, hadn't she?

Sometimes... sometimes you found yourself thinking—wishing—that you really were doing all of this for attention, and that you could snap out of it whenever you wanted to, but... As everyone was bound by the Cycle, so were you bound to have your mind drift between concepts—never truly able to grasp onto, or hold onto, anything.

"Sora?" Kairi regarded you with an almost tragic look on her face, as she cocked her head to the side and pressed her lips into a firm line.

"You should... you should go see your servants now, Kai. They need to give you some medicine, since you nearly had a heart attack, imagining kidnappers and such things on your way home, right?"

Kairi let you go at once, then, as your words cut her to the quick. But instead of running away from you and the danger you provided, as she should of, she instead twined closer to your hurtfulness for just an instant—like one would might risk thorns in order to get closer to a rose—and then she whispered in your ear.

As a single tear slid down her face, Kairi said something that would make you regret your existence and state of mind more than anything else ever could. "I would—I would love you so much, Sora, if you would just realize that what you're like isn't a game to me."

Then, faster and more efficiently than you had ever seen her move, Kairi was in her shack at the south of her backyard, and gone from your site. She'd neither climbed up her window like she'd wanted to, nor had she gone through her front door to her servants like you'd said, and you...

You wanted to know why she'd chosen to go in there of all places more than anything. Not that Kairi would ever explain it, though... Nor should she, after you'd said what you had.

Once again, you were hating yourself. And once again, a single tear cascaded down from your eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, to anyone who made it this far, I have great news for you. This. Story. Is. Completely. Done. As I'm posting this, I've all ready finished this entire story, so expect updates and for this thing to actually have an ending.
> 
> Woot! That's the first time I can promise that about one of my stories, and I'm totes excited for it! I worked my butt off to make it possible (writing double what you're supposed to for NaNo in HALF the time you're allotted for NaNo, but I knew it would be worth it for SoKai Day).
> 
> Happy SoKai Day, everyone!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> And be sure to review with what you think so far, as well as what you're confused about. Hopefully things will clear up for y'all in the future.
> 
> Love you all!
> 
> -Shanna
> 
> (P.S. Sorry for any mistakes. Trying to edit this whole thing on SoKai Day was a nightmare. LOL.)


	2. Chapter Two: Naminé

**Chapter Two: Naminé**

Later that weekend—when you weren't thinking about how you'd stupidly upset Kairi, and how she hadn't come back to school since you'd opened your big mouth—you found yourself putting up various posters of your favorite bands in your room.

It was a little pointless, you thought, and nothing short of busy work, but... it gave you the illusion that you were doing something productive.

It was nice, too, to know that even though you hadn't put the flyers up since you'd bought them, that you were able to partake in something in new—something the Cycle wouldn't end up hounding you for—and that you wouldn't have to pay money again for.

And at that, you couldn't help but think of the weird vision you'd had of Kairi in Twilight Town. Just what could it have meant?

Had Riku… had  _he_  at least been there like that? It made you nauseous to think that if the vision had at least some credence, that Riku might be a big part of Kairi's future…

But as it stood... you weren't really one to talk, since you weren't in her good graces anymore yourself.

And... you would think about that later. Right now, you had a lot of homework and other things to deal with. For one thing, you'd taken it upon yourself to do some of Kairi's homework for her, since she'd been absent so often lately. In your mind, it was the least you could do after insulting her like you had.

"Hey, Sora?" the sudden voice of your father, Cloud, interrupted your thought processes, as he knocked lightly on your wall, and poked his head into the room. You grimaced.

While it was good that you had parents that still were there, you guessed, and were more than willing and capable to pay for all of your medical needs, you'd be lying if you said they understood anything at all. In fact, you were more than certain that they talked with an annoyed air about you to their friends, and in that light... you hated them.

Why couldn't—why couldn't your dad at least be as cool as his nephew, Roxas (who just happened to be his spitting image)? To be honest, you'd asked yourself that many a time in the past. Or… at least you had until you'd grown up and deemed the whole situation pointless. Now you just tried to stay as far away from the 'rents as possible.

And as they didn't seem to object, or even acknowledge it at all, you assumed they must have thought it for the best. So if Cloud was cornering you about something now... Well, it couldn't be a good thing in the slightest, could it?

Unbeknownst of the thoughts that had entered your head—or the pure look of loathing you were giving him—Cloud continued on speaking unperturbed. "You heard that the Council's having the Cycle again right now, didn't you? You need to find a time to go up there, Sora. Do you want to go up there with your mom and me now? Or-"

Groaning irritably—and nearly shredding your favorite band poster into tatters, as you held onto it with a shaky grasp—you guessed that you should have known what this was going to be about. Your parents were nothing short of Council lapdogs, after all, so what else had you expected?

Still... it was nice that they were giving you a choice about it all, you supposed. Granted, they were probably only doing it for their own mental health—so that they wouldn't have to cart around a raving, insane child to the place, and could just eventually make you go yourself—but you'd take what you could get.

Shaking your head slightly, as you repressed the desire to throw your favorite poster at your dad's face in retribution, for him causing you to destroy it, you said, "Nah. I think... I think I'm going to wait until I hear from Kairi, and maybe go with her, if that's all right. I haven't— I haven't heard from her lately. So if she's mad at me, if I go to her about this, maybe it'll give us some common ground again, and something to talk about."

Never in all your life had you regretted saying anything more. Not even the mean, stereotyping things that you had to Kairi last. For one thing, you knew you didn't owe Cloud an explanation about anything at all.

But mostly... you knew that he hated your relationship with her. Probably because he thought you'd let the mayor know, through his daughter, what sort of freak show you were, and that your family was by extension. Or maybe he thought she was too good for you?

Or... maybe, you thought now, as you got to your feet, and did begin hurling the poster in the direction of Cloud... Maybe he was afraid you'd impregnate her, and make her bear an insane child in her womb. That was just the thing your dad would think, wasn't it?

Slamming the door in his face, before he could again tell you to find other friends—guy friends—you shakily picked up your phone in your hand, and found yourself calling Riku of all people.

The moment you heard your ex-friend's annoying ringbone on the other end, you instantly regretted it. Kairi was probably perfectly fine, right? You were just overreacting. And... what was the chance that Riku would know what was up with her, anyway? They may have reconnected some of late—much to your annoyance—but that didn't mean they were joined at the hip or anything like that.

Actually, Kairi spent much more time with you than she did Riku, so you really were being stupid with this. But still... if there was a chance that Kairi really could be in danger, you knew there wasn't anything you wouldn't do to see her to safety: and that included talking to the jerkass of all jerkasses.

So stealing your resolve, you listened to his annoying, Barbie-esque music, and pressed on for Kairi's sake and Kairi's alone. Finally, Riku answered.

"Yeah... what is it?" he asked, in a very irritated tone.

And as that just made you all the more angry, you nearly said many things that would have made Riku disconnect the call immediately, but instead you choked out, "Riku... it's Sora. And, no: I don't want to talk about  _it_ , or you, or anything like that. I'm only calling for Kairi's sake, okay? She hasn't been at my school the past few days, and her parents are acting weird when I try to call her, and since the two of you are friends again... I thought I'd see if maybe you know what's up."

Well, the sound of Riku almost dropping the phone at all of that was oddly positive, you thought. Even though you hated him immensely—and planned to for many more years to come, since he more than deserved it—maybe his fumble meant that he still cared and would help you?

Or another scenario: what if something terrible had happened to Kairi: something he knew, and he didn't know how to tell you? If that were the case... you knew you'd never forgive yourself, for having let her leave the way she had your last night with her.  _Kairi_...

"Sora," Riku said much more dignified now, as he seemed to press the phone closer to his ear—if that muffled sound you were hearing was anything to go by, anyway—and more likely than not, pressed his glasses closer to his eyes, as he thought how best to disclose the answer. "If it had been another time and day, I'd accuse you of being a jealous, stalker-like boyfriend of Kairi's and that you need to let up."

 _The real stalker person around here is you_ ,  _Riku_ , you thought, positively seething.  _For you're the one who sought to write a book about my life—and maybe Kairi's, too—and then sell it to the highest bidder_!  _How she ever forgave you is beyond me._

But before you could even dream of getting the accusatory words out, Riku was cutting you off. "But... it just so happens that I'm also worried about her. Look... Do you think you could meet me outside of your house, so that we can talk about this? It'll be easier to speak face to face, I think."

Honestly, seeing Riku face-to-face was the last thing you wanted to do. But if Riku was worried about Kairi... Well, that didn't really bode well at all, did it?

Slamming your fists against your eyes in panic and aggravation—and oh, just fantastic; you could hear the voices in the back of your head start to stir again; and you'd taken more than enough medication today, too!—you said in a deadpanned tone, "Fine. See you in ten. But if you don't make it here by that time, I'm going to go to Kairi's house and get some answers myself."

...

Proving to be much more prompt now than he'd been in the years the three of you had used to hang out together, Riku ended up appearing at your home in record time—something your parents were oh so thrilled about, though Tifa seemed to sober up some, when you explained you were worried about Kairi—and you tried not to let his timeliness worry you about Kairi anymore. You failed.

It didn't help that the entire block was covered with people who were all ready decorating for Halloween, which in turn caused an eerie atmosphere to appear over everything. The sea, too, seemed to be churning with much more force than usual.

Pulling your jumper tighter about you, you found yourself worrying that maybe a Tsunami was about to transpire.

"Riku," you told the older boy much more politely than you'd ever thought you were capable of, as you darted down the stairs and stopped within a few meters of your former friend. "What is this about Kairi that you couldn't say on the phone? What-"

Just as you said these things, you noticed in your peripheral vision that the moon had finally decided to come free of the clouds—and it was a full moon, at that—and began to bathe the entire area in an unearthly glow. You shivered.

"I think, Sora..." Riku said, moving a silver lock of hair out of his face (his hair had gotten longer since the last time you'd seen him, you notices), so that you could see his saddened, jade gaze better. "I think you know what I mean. What's just begun, after all? The Cycle, right? And that's always a  _thrill_  to take part in, or so I've heard, so in that... I can't imagine that Kairi's seeming disappearance and it aren't unconnected.

"She was going to the Cycle yesterday, she told me, actually. And if you haven't heard from her since then... Well, I'm sorry, Sora, but I'm terrified for the fact. She would have called you, I think, to tell you what to expect, as you're a special case... She would have never—just vanished into thin air like this. I might not know her as well as I used to-as much as you now do—but I still know  _that_.

"Now, I have to ask you one thing: do you think your parents could be involved in this in any way?"

Honestly, you would have been lying if you said you pondered the same thing. You'd even expected that that was why Riku hadn't wanted to talk to you over the phone. As your dad was a campaign advisor, anything said about the government would get directly sent to the candidates: so there was no doubt in your mind that he was listening into you calls, even.

And yet—you couldn't imagine them being involved in a conspiracy, if that was what Riku was getting at. If for no other reason than the fact that your parents hated to be involved with anyone connected to your illness, so they definitely would have stayed away from your best friend who'd been around for everything, you thought.

Turning to Riku, you regretfully told him what you had only just begun to piece together. You could only hope that after what he'd done, that you could still trust him in some regard. "No... my parents wouldn't have—" you cut your words off; you weren't able to put into words, lest you make it true, how Kairi might had been abducted.

Instead, you said, as thoughtlessly and emotionlessly as you could that, "They're not involved. I do think you're right about this having to do with the Cycle, though. I mean... there's more to it than we know. I'm almost sure of it.

"It's always in October, when the weather's the weirdest, for one thing. Or rather, I feel like the weather is somehow made like this for the event. And, yes, Riku: I know that sounds crazy. And yes, I  _am_  crazy... So in that, I believe I can see things that other people can't. And just for once... I think I stumbled onto something that's possible and real here, so give me the benefit of the doubt just this once, okay?

"Also... I think Kairi might have stolen a photograph—from a world leader, maybe, and that's why she was trying to cover it up—I think... I think that's why she-"

"You're saying that the Cycle affects the weather?" Riku said slowly, closing and unclosing his hand in a nervous gesture, just as the wind began blowing so as to gather his hair in a halo above his head. "That's crazy, Sora. Even for you. How do I—how do I know that anything your telling me has a shred of truth to it? And I fail to see how Kairi has anything to do with this idea of yours. Want to elaborate?"

You did, actually. You wanted to tell Riku that Kairi's name meant "sea", and that the water was acting up with a sort of vicious air in that very moment. You held this information back, though.

Call yourself crazy... but you couldn't get over the idea that there were some things you needed to keep about all of this to yourself. And if Kairi's life was on the line, that was even more reason to make sure you could trust who you gave information to.

And as it stood... you couldn't trust Riku as far as you could throw him. Not at all.

Closing your eyes in slight anguish, you looked back to Riku reluctantly. You could tell by the face he was making that he all ready knew you had no answer to satisfy his question.

But you must have done something to make him feel some sort of sympathy towards you. For reaching out to put a hand atop your shoulder, he told you with a quick quirk of his lips. "Hey, don't worry about it, all right? We'll figure this out, and we'll— we'll find Kairi."

What you didn't tell Riku was how unlikely you thought that scenario to be.

...

Once upon a time... you would have scoffed at any hero in a story wearing a hoodie, whilst strolling into school while feeling depressed.

Now, though... Now you couldn't imagine doing anything but drowning in your grief this way, as you thundered into the school building, just as lightning struck overhead and you knew... knew without a shadow of a doubt that Kairi was really gone.

And that hurt you and broke you down so much that you didn't know what to do about it. There were many reasons to miss Kairi, of course, and every area around you was some sort of trigger to your memory of her.

Here was the hall to the main office: where the redhead had once decked out in shades of scarlet for a contest during Spirit Week.

And there was Selphie: the first friend you'd ever been okay with meeting, after Riku had betrayed you; it had been through Kairi's friendship with the spiky haired girl that you'd even been able to do that much. And you dreaded what Selphie might say to you now, when she found out that Kairi was missing and that you'd been the last person to talk to her.

But deeming to think on those thoughts at a later time, you quickly shouldered through the double wooden doors that would take you up a flight of stairs, and to your first History class.

All ready, you missed the journey you'd taken with Kairi there last time, and you felt lonelier than ever.

That was—that had to be the hardest thing about all of this, you thought. That even though you missed Kairi immensely—missed how she would have been overjoyed that the bowling set in the room had once again faded away to reveal boring, garish colors and nothing more: your teacher's favorite—what you really missed about her... was what she'd been to you.

It wasn't fair or right to think about it like that, you knew, but... you missed going to class with her. You missed her constant presence, and her always bringing a walking stick to help you in the mornings... You- you just missed her so much...

And maybe... maybe that was why you didn't at first notice that a new student was being introduced to the class, until the blonde took up the seat right in front of you.

At once, looking up with a start, you noticed that the rain on the window beside you seemed to look red in color. It looked like blood, and Kairi's hair color all rolled up into one. And if that wasn't enough to make you feel nauseous, the fact that the girl—Naminé, you thought her name was—was the spitting image of Kairi would definitely have made you ill.

And even more unsettling than all of that, was the fact that the girl was looking at you with a very familiar smile.

"You're..." you muttered brokenly, as you reached out in front of yourself to take the girl's hand in your own—ignoring that you were in the middle of class and making a spectacle of yourself. "You're Kairi's cousin, aren't you?! You look—you look just like her, the way that Roxas kinda looks like me. Do you—do you know what's happened to her?! Can I talk to you, please?!"

That made the grin disappear off of the girl's face toot sweet, you found. And in that... you wished you had begun questioning her about less hurtful things. Especially if it would have awarded you answers about Kairi... and if it would have kept Naminé from looking like she was emulating Kairi in some weird, haunting way.

Only one person should have ever been able to look at you that way. And for that matter... only one person's hand should have felt like Kairi's in your own. So why— Why did Naminé feel just like her? Why?

"Teacher?" Naminé questioned, as she shot her hand up into the air in a very fast and vivid motion: you hadn't thought she had that type of attitude within her, but apparently you'd been wrong. "Can I— can I, and this person here, be excused, please? I think— I think we're both mourning the loss of my cousin, you see, so-"

Before Naminé could even finish her awkward stutter, you found you were all ready being shooed away more swiftly than you could have ever wished for.

So disappearing from the other room, before you could think on how the teachers also must have been alerted about Kairi's disappearance, you leaned outside the door and you waited. Naminé was right beside you, soon after.

She might have been putting her jacket on as she joined you, so that you couldn't see her at all for a moment—something you were very glad for, because you didn't want to look into another face of Kairi's—but it was definitely her.

Only when she had her coat on did she step forward the slightest bit, and scoff her boots on the linoleum beneath you both—bumping her feet against yours at the last moment.

"I know we've just met," Naminé said, as she turned to face you and put a hand on your chest—and how much more healing her touch was compared to Riku's, you marveled. "But... I think the best way this can be explained would be at my house. Could you meet me there? Foregoing the fact that I'm a stranger... for Kairi's sake, maybe?"

For Kairi's sake, you could do all that and more. Nodding your head, you let her grasp your hand and lead you away.

...

You really didn't know what you'd been expecting, when you'd allowed Naminé to sweep you away and out towards the Play Island: where you'd thought no one could possibly live.

But oddly enough... the little shack beneath the embankment, which lead to a tree house, was exactly where she lived.

And to say that questions were racing through your head then would have been an understatement. You weren't foolish enough to think that Kairi's disappearance and Naminé's sudden appearance were unconnected, for one thing.

But more than that... Who in their right mind let some strange, teenage girl live out in the open like this? Even someone who was scorned like you were still had parents to live with... So, did that mean that Naminé's isolation was something of her own choice?

Unless she was lying to you about living here, of course. That was the most logical and likely conclusion to all of this, but when you looked at the medium brown structure—that seemed to be made more out of twigs and poor architecture than anything else—you couldn't shake the feeling in your head that Naminé belonged here, and that the place truly was hers.

You also— you also couldn't shake the feeling that the girl you'd just met was a witch. There was no substance for that thought of yours at all, and it was almost a judgmental and cruel one, even, sense you knew witches hadn't existed in hundreds of years, but... Naminé just seemed and looked so ethereal, that you couldn't imagine her being anything else.

It was about this time that the blonde finally opened the oddly placed door before you, and moved to step inside. She turned around and winked at you for a moment, and if that didn't make alarm bells go off in your head, you didn't know what would—but you followed her into the mysterious, black place, anyway.

If following Naminé would lead you to Kairi—the one good thing and person you'd known in your hell of a life—you would happily die to save her... or, at the very least, to learn what had happened to her.

Pushing those dark thoughts aside, as you tried to get accustomed to your surroundings, you found yourself looking around and feeling in the dark for Naminé.

Something—something wasn't right, you thought. The area you were in felt much too large and closed in, compared to how it had seemed on the outside. You were about to say such a thing, too, when suddenly lights came on all around you, and you found yourself standing in what seemed to be a massive library.

Well... a library was putting it mildly, you thought, as you looked up to the ceiling, to see books stretching upward on shelves as far as the eye could see. Literally. You thought some of them must have been stored in the heavens somehow.

The rest of the area, though definitely brighter, seemed to carry some sort of shadow to it. Branching off of the massive columns that held the area together, you thought you could see massive, oak tables arcing behind you. Maybe... maybe that was the darkness you saw? Either that or some beds, maybe: Naminé surely needed somewhere to sleep, after all.

When... she wasn't brewing potions, you thought, as you took in the pipes to the right of you, that seemed to be carrying all matter of liquids, so that they could come together in a single beaker.

Idly, you wondered what would happen to you if you broke one of the pipes and disrupted the mixing. You almost wanted to try it out, just to see, but you stopped yourself.

Moving around a massive pile of books, and papers flying everywhere, you finally found Naminé sitting on a tea table before a massive picture window. She seemed to be drinking coffee, oddly enough, as she sat atop the wood, cross-legged: waiting for you to join her. To say that you didn't take the bait would have been a lie.

"Naminé, you're... you're a witch, aren't you?" You said as kindly and gently as you could, while in the back of your mind you worried that this girl had used her powers to steal your would-be-girlfriend's face, or something, and had... killed her, after the deed had been done.

"I mean," you started again, as your large hands flew in every which way, as they began spasming out of control. "I know— I know that's impossible! According to the textbooks, anyway, but here you are. That's— that's amazing! This  _place_  is amazing, but I... I can't see what any of it has to do with Kairi…" you said at last. Almost dreading the answer, as soon as you'd voiced it.

The way that Naminé began holding onto her teacup so tightly that it bit into her skin gave you some hope, though. She looked clearly upset and distant...

Placing the cup down in front of her, and then folding her hands delicately in front of her chest, Naminé voiced in a very broken whisper, "It's because she got involved in things she never should have,"

Naminé explained mysteriously, as she seemed to purposefully avert her gaze from your own, "It has to do with the Cycle, you see... Kairi saw a hole in the system, and she meant to exploit it to make things better, but... but she was too careless. Partly my fault, for not foreseeing it and stopping her, but… they found her out. And now... in the best case scenario, she  _will_  come back, but not as she was."

"I don't— I can't understand what you mean at all. I'm sorry, but do you— do you think you could explain a bit better?" you asked the enigma before you reluctantly—all the while feeling like you were the biggest fool to ever walk the face of the earth.

Suddenly, you found yourself wishing you hadn't been taking so much medication lately. Maybe... maybe your usual, feverish mind could have deduced what she meant, what with its far off guesses.

And also... that side of you wouldn't have taken "no" for an answer. And neither would you have stopped guessing until you'd somehow gotten it all right. You wouldn't have—you wouldn't have felt sheepish, like you did now, if you'd been your insane self...

The insane version of yourself that Riku had seen when you'd you tried to reason with him the night before, and-

"I don't really expect you to," Naminé responded curtly, as, with a snap of her fingers, she made the remaining coffee grains in her glass disappear in a fiery puff of smoke.

Groaning at that—perhaps she hated getting rid of any part of coffee? Even the parts that hadn't made?—Naminé looked up at you with wide, intelligent, pale blue eyes, and then:

"Have you had any suspicions about the Cycle yourself, Sora? I think... I think that maybe you have. Most people do at least once in their lifetimes, of course, but I sense you might be... a special case.

"Anyway, I guess there's no other way to come out and say this, but... the Cycle—at a certain time in one's life—takes away who they were, but replaces them with someone else. To that end, Kairi might very well appear again, but it won't be exactly the same Kairi that you know and love, do you understand?"

You most certainly did  _not_  understand. And what you wanted to do more than anything was to scream to the high heavens and demand to know what sort of joke they were plying on you.

Could it have been... could it have been that Naminé wasn't right in the membrane, either? She didn't look like she was ill, you thought, but hey: you liked to think that you also looked normal; so maybe you couldn't tell just through someone's appearance whether they were sane or not?

If nothing else, Naminé seemed to believe her own words. You didn't know what that really counted for, however. But then again... if she wasn't being truthful, how  _else_  could the magic you were seeing be explained? Gosh, your head hurt...

If nothing else, you both agreed that the Cycle was bad news, right? So...

"So let me get this straight," you said with a puckered up expression, that you would only later remember because it echoed the fact that Naminé was currently drinking lemon tea.

"You're saying when we go to the Cycle... we're sometimes replaced with doppelgangers and then left for dead? How does that work exactly? And why? Are these people like... other versions of us from another world, maybe? Or reincarnations of us? Or look-alikes... Or thieves who steal our faces, maybe? I don't- I don't understand any of this!"

The cool, calm that you'd been exhibiting throughout the last few days—and maybe your whole life, actually—snapped like tooth picks, as you slammed your hand down on the table below you, and caused some of your tea to spray onto Naminé's face.

At the moment, you couldn't have cared less. You were positively seething; how did you—how did you know that this all wasn't some kind of a conspiracy to keep you off the real trail?!

And if what Naminé was saying  _was_  true... how did you know that she was who she said she was—Kairi's concerned cousin—and that she wasn't in on it herself?

"I don't..." Naminé started, sounding very empathetic for someone you had just about assaulted, you thought guiltily. "I don't know the full extents of it, exactly. I just know it's something to be avoided at all costs. I've been trying to consult my ancestors for any information they might have on all of this," the young girl explained, as she made a paper towel appear out of thin air, and began mopping herself up with it: something you were quick to try and assist on.

"But I'm afraid my bloodline isn't anything if not muddled. It's going to take some time and work on my part. And I don't know if I have that, since people have been trying to take  _me_  to the Cycle lately. And I'm at a bigger risk here than I was before, since your Island's making all its citizens go through it right now, but since this is where Kairi disappeared... I have to be out and about and here to try and help her. I have to."

There was absolute despair in Naminé's voice, as she said the last. And it was then and only then that you realized what you should have long ago: that while you might have lost the love of your life, Naminé had also lost her cousin that she loved very much.

And though you couldn't recall Kairi ever talking about Naminé—or seeing her with the other girl at all (you got the sense that Naminé was a "stay in-doors" type, anyway) —you could easily imagine how the two of them would have gotten along well with each other.

Yes... Naminé was suffering greatly, wasn't she? Leaning over your side of the table more, so that you could see Naminé better, you tried your best to console the crying girl. And maybe... in doing that, you'd allowed Kairi—who looked so similar to Naminé—to not cry wherever she was, too.

"Naminé, is there anything you can do to help or get her back? Can you locate her, maybe? Or is there something that  _I_  can do? Anything I can help you with to find her? I'm— I'm more than willing to help out, you know? Were it not for Kairi, I might not even be alive right now. She stepped in when I was being beaten up on the playground once, so... I more than owe her her life. Naminé?"

"The way you can help," the blonde said, as she reached out to clasp your hand in her own, and looked to all the world like she'd gone through far too many tragedies. "Is by wielding this blunt object I made, and fighting off the tainted rain."

And as if she'd been in a trance when telling you that, Naminé let out a surprised little gasp, as the words left her mouth. And after looking at you with wide, horrified eyes, she collapsed.

...

That night, you dreamed of one of the first memories you'd ever had with your best friend.

_It had been a rainy day that time—not rainy like it was now, but more natural somehow. And you remembered how you'd raced into town, intent on racing sticks or toy boats down the small streams that ran at the edges of the road._

_There was something to be said about playing in rainwater like this, that wasn't, technically, supposed to be played in. So whenever you got any sort of rain at all—enough to douse the land in a little bit of runoff, anyway, and not enough that it would send your mom calling your dad—you headed to the town square, and played with the other rebel kids who dreamed of sailing in clear waters one day._

_Riku was there, you noticed, as you hurried up the stairs that led to the red-brown, concrete star carved into the center of the ground._

_While everyone else was out looking for more... traditional ways to sail their "boats", you'd always loved to push small twigs through the wedges of the yellow star. Mainly because no one else did that—as it was hard to find sticks that small, so that they could make a substantial trek around the thing—but also because it made you feel like you owned the city, almost (as the star represented Destiny Islands' capitol)._

_It was no different for you now... Even if someone had, annoyingly, made the circular, disco ball looking sprinkler go off, so that the area was soaked with regular water, too._

_Still… didn't they know you wanted to cherish the natural clean water for change, and not the purified type from the sea?! If it started running over your starred area, you were going to have a very bad day, you knew, so it had better stay away... you thought miserably, and everyone else, too, for that matter._

_It was about in that moment that Kairi let herself be known. And while you usually would have been completely for your only friend's—the only person who really loved you's—attention, at the moment, you couldn't help feeling she was getting in the way._

_Kairi didn't like playing these sorts of games, so why she was now kneeling down in front of you was something you couldn't even begin to fathom._

_And why was it that the eight-year-old had chosen to stand right in front of the sprinkler, so as to get even wetter? You wondered, mystified. She was going to get sick! Or maybe even some sort of virus! And then all of the mommies would make sure none of you ever did anything like this again!_

_You scowled. Or... at least you would have, if Kairi hadn't pointed something very important out to you in that moment. "Sora... this stick of yours is chipped at the top. I think... And I think it's making it catch onto things, so that it can't follow the pathway of the star. Here," she said, ripping off a part of the bib—err, collar—she was wearing, so that she had a small piece of fabric in her hand._

_Tying the broken splinters together in a very deft way, for someone who no longer liked art, Kairi examined her work for a moment, before giving it back to you with a smile. "There you go. Try it out, Sora!"_

_And you did, with your own little smile lighting up your face, even. The branch positively soared! It didn't go in a straight path anymore, and it banged around all over the place—something that you would later learn was because it had become heavier on one side—but it flipped end on end, until it got to the other side of the star: faster than anything you'd ever seen._

_And in that moment, you realized you'd never loved anyone more than you did Kairi._

_Except for now: in the form of yourself who was currently watching all of this through a dream: desperate for your subconscious to make sense of Naminé's words and give you some sort of idea about finding Kairi._

_Soaring to your feet in your memory, you quickly clasped onto Kairi's hands, before dancing around with her and singing, "Kairi is the Best" to the tune of "Sitting in a Tree" (much to the amused stare of your peers)._

_You grinned. Rounding on Kairi then, you had to ask her where she'd come up with the idea of repairing your racer the way that she had._

_And to that, she told you with an impish grin—that wasn't unlike Naminé's own, you would later find—how she'd merely meant to doctor it up and give it resolve that way, and how anyone... should have been able to do the same._

You woke up with a gasp.

Breathing heavily, as the T-shirt you'd been wearing in your sleep now clung to you like a second skin, you ran a hand over your face—feeling so, so bone weary and panicky:

All ready, the remnants of the dream were starting to disappear from within your grasp— and you wondered.

There was- there was no way, was there? Kairi's prophetic sounding words… Had she- back then, even, all ready begun to suspect the Cycle? Had she been hinting at something to you, maybe?

If she'd truly stopped liking art back then, and you knew for sure she had, did that—did that mean she'd somehow foreseen everything that had been happening recently? If she was against buying pictures, for instance, because she knew it would cost her double at the event (if the old things you believed about the Cycle were even true anymore, that was), then-

Somehow, you know that all of this was connected. You just needed to figure out how. Kairi was running out of time.

And had she- had she called you? Did Kairi maybe have powers like Naminé did?

Closing your hand around the item that Naminé had given you before you'd left her, that was oddly similar to the stick Kairi had repaired for you in the past, as well as the one she'd give you at school, you decided that come tomorrow...

You'd go see Roxas for some answers. And you'd even crash council hall, where the Cycle was being held, and try to find her there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's this point on that I really start loving this story, and I hope y'all will like it, too, and that things are starting to make more sense to you. If you have questions, though, feel free to let me know.
> 
> Also… I feel like Naminé's my favorite character in this story. IDK why exactly, I just really love her here for some reason. I had SO much fun writing her in this fic, and getting to explore different sides of her, but more on that later.
> 
> I feel like I should talk about the cursing in this story. Umm… Obviously there is some. If this story was supposed to be canon, I wouldn't have it at all, because they don't do that in the games, but since this story's AU… I'm going with it. It won't happen TOO much. And if anything, it happens less and less as Sora starts becoming better, but if this bothers you… You might want to bow out on this story. Sorry.
> 
> And, yes. There will be some F words in this story. Not too many, I don't think, but since PG-13 movies can now use that word at least once without it being R, I think that I'm, at least for now, going to leave this story rated T. If anyone does want me to up to M, though, I will.
> 
> Btw, you should all go listen to "Glass Heart" by Leona Lewis when reading this story. No seriously. I listened to that song SO many times while writing this, that I seriously debated naming the story after it. XD You should especially look up eraquskey's video on YouTube to it, as it's an AMAZING KH tribute that I think you'd all enjoy:)
> 
> Thanks for reading, guys! I hope you're all enjoying this first full-length AU of mine that's seeing the light of day. See you next chapter!
> 
> -Shanna outie-


	3. Chapter Three: Perchance to Dream

**Chapter Three: Perchance to Dream**

You weren't surprised to find Xion—when you first got on a boat and headed to Twilight Town again—worrying about Roxas' room, whilst Roxas himself was nowhere to be seen.

You supposed that one must work long hours when employed by the democracy, ironically enough, so to that end… it was only natural that Xion was tidying up his space for him, since he didn't have the time to.

Knocking on the wall much like your dad had in your room last, you had the pleasure of seeing the girl jump about fifteen feet into the air, as you startled her.

Her eyes blazing in that moment, Xion turned to face you lividly… only for that expression to melt off of her face completely when she saw that it was you.

"Oh, Sora…" she muttered much more good-naturedly than she had the last time you'd seen her. "You scared me, but it's only you. You should- you should know that you look very much like Roxas."

Yes, you did, actually. And it was for that reason alone that you thought that Xion was now probably tolerating you better than usual. She was nothing short of besotted with your cousin, after all.

Padding over to where your would-be-In-law had dropped a dust rag, against the swirling globe that Roxas had stationed next to his bed, you quickly picked it up—and then began acting as though you were dusting the white, expensive, marble dresser before you, though really you were feeling around for clues on Kairi—and turned to the girl with a wide smile decorating your face.

A mostly fake one, sure, but at least you were feeling a bit better lately, since you had been taking your medicine regularly, and now had a plan to help your favorite ginger out. That was something, at least.

"Hey, umm… Xion. This is a really weird question, but do you remember meeting my friend named 'Kairi' at all? Has Roxas maybe mentioned someone with that name, per chance? She's- she's gone missing, you see, and I know the first people to look for her would be the Council."

Xion's eyebrows seemed to shoot up and into her hairline at your words. She also looked slightly perturbed—maybe she thought that there was something going on between her and Roxas, you wondered—but she quickly smoothed that expression over, so that she was looking at you with nothing but sympathy, as she sat on Roxas' double, orange bed and seemed to contemplate.

"No, Sora-"she said at once. Moving her fingers this way and that, under the blanket of Roxas', so it looked as though she was playing the age-old game of "outer-under". You sighed.

"That name… it doesn't really mean anything to me. But I'd be happy to help you find her. Have you gone through any necessary channels? Have you put any missing posters up, maybe?"

In truth, you would have done exactly that, if you weren't worried about tipping any higher powers off on just what was happening. And now, though Xion's concern seemed legitimate and you greatly appreciated that, you found yourself regretting having come to see her at all.

Would she make some sort of huge scene now to help you find Kai? If so… you knew you had to stop her at all costs, but how was the real question.

If Xion—and by extension, Roxas—really was innocent, you didn't exactly want to tell her anything to get her mixed up in the mess you found yourself now in, but…

Maybe- maybe you could distract her somehow? With random facts, maybe, so that she'd forget the whole thing?

Deciding that it was worth a shot, you found yourself sitting down beside Xion, and letting out a breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding, when you told her: "'Nother weird question time. Xion… do you know a 'Naminé'? I mainly ask because I recently met a blonde girl with that name, and she… Well, she kind of reminded me of you."

That wasn't completely true, of course. Who she'd really reminded you of had been Kairi, but you'd be lying if you said there wasn't a similar vulnerability between Xion and Naminé both. As well as a certain weight on their shoulders that they both seemed to carry."

And as you had hoped, the new train of thought had seemed to get the dark-eyed girl's mind off of Kairi completely. You hadn't- you hadn't expected to elicit quite a response from her, though.

"Naminé?" Xion asked with a haunted sort of tone—clutching the seashell necklace she always seemed to wear around her throat, with a lost expression on her face, as she seemed to mouth a ton of words that would never make it past her lips.

Finally, she turned to you—as if she was remembering you were there for the first time—and in a particularly infuriated tone, she snapped, "No. I have no idea who that is! Why do you keep asking me about all these girls? What? Are you hinting that Roxas loves them or something?!"

Sighing, you resisted the urge to slap the clearly hysteric Xion out of whatever sort of shock she had found herself in.

But knowing that she'd probably just see it as you being furious that she'd forgotten the Kairi issue or something—and you couldn't have her thinking about Kairi again, because that had been your reason for sidetracking her in the first place—you calmly bid Xion adieu, and left Twilight Town with less information than you had hoped to have.

…

It was later that night, when you were on the boat ride home—trying desperately to figure what the connection between the Cycle, weather, Kairi, and Twilight Town and her photo was—that you would end up meeting the best friend of your life.

He was rather tall and slim: taller than most people you'd ever seen, in fact, and though your first thought was that maybe he was a basketball player, the idea seemed out of place with the relaxed, kind smile that seemed to always exist on his face.

No. You couldn't imagine this guy smacking a basketball out of someone's hands to save his life. He looked a bit too… kind for that.

Idly, you found yourself wondering what someone like that—who was decked out in more green and warm layers that you could have counted—would be going to an Island of all places for. But then again… maybe that chilled, serene sort of environment was just what this person needed.

Realizing that you were staring, and that there were far, far more important things to worry about, than what the only passenger on the vessel with you was planning to do, you quickly picked up a newspaper on the seat next to you and began leafing through it.

But… to your mortification, your obvious attempt to cover up your actions didn't go unnoticed by the stranger. As the man crossed one of his legs over the other—you noticed, then, that though the person's feet were quite large, they were actually rather slim.

And in that moment, you guessed the man before you must have had a medical condition—Sugar Diabetes, perhaps—that made him lose toes.

At once, your heart went out to him. Even moreso when he didn't seem to be saddened or bitter towards his fate in the least, but rather was cheerful as all get out. "If a… ya don' mind me sayin', sir, Why, you've got the most intense hair tha' I've ever seen! It's really quite nice. Ahyuck! Do many people on the Islands style thar' hair like that ther'? I'm afraid I haven' really gotten out much."

Despite the situation you found yourself in, despite how sick with fear you were for Kairi and what was happening with the Cycle—heck, even knowing that you shouldn't talk to strangers, and that this was all probably a terrible idea—you couldn't help but smile.

Your entire life… you'd been a black sheep for many reasons, and part of it had been for your hair at school. No one—save for your mother and father: the one thing you really had in common with them, and Riku, Kairi, and Roxas—had ever thought much of it, but had rather seen it as you being too lazy to tame your locks.

So it was more than a little amazing—and a bit unsettling—to get such open, honest, respect and curiosity about it. Putting your hands behind your head, though, and deciding to play the whole thing off, you shrugged. "Uhh… not really. It's a rare family trait, I think. I appreciate the compliment all the same, though. I'm Sora, by the way. And since we're going to be getting to our stop any minute now, is there anything specific you'd like to know about Island life?"

The main reason you were asking this, of course, was because you now wanted to deter anyone and everyone away from the Cycle and its evils. Especially kind people, who shouldn't even be going to it for Destiny Islands, if they were only just moving to the location, but…

Even though you wanted to riot against it and the world powers completely, you still needed to keep your hostility about them hidden, didn't you? To that end, you needed to hide your warning with other words. And so you would.

"Tha' would be super! Ahyuck!" the stranger exclaimed, as he pumped a fist into the air—looking rather silly for someone possibly in their forties, you thought, but you let it go.

Moving some of the strands of black hair that fell over the sides of his face—that made him look as though he had long, floppy ears, almost: another awesome hairstyle, you thought—the stranger got up from his side of the boat, and came down to sit beside you.

He stayed a ways a way, of course, and had even put his hands up in warning, so you knew that he didn't mean to harm you, and that you could refuse him if you wanted, but it was still somehow nice.

You… you liked the idea of making a new friend: it was something you could really use right about now.

"Do I need sunscreen, for one thin'? I have really derk skin, I know, so I'd thin' I wouldn't burn, but ya can never be too careful, I always say! Skin cancer is no joking matter. Nuh-huh."

Despite yourself, you couldn't help but laugh at your new companion's humor and all around seriousness  _with_  that humor. You had no doubt that he thought the things coming out of his mouth were of utmost importance.

Not that you were knocking them, of course, because you had heard skin cancer could be a big deal, but… it had been a while since you'd met someone with this sort of personality. The stranger's accent was really rich, too!

Wherever Kairi was… and whatever had happened to her, you could only hope that she was with someone like this for the time being. She deserved her situation to be made as better as possible.

Frowning at that, and turning to look at the Play Island coming closer and closer to your side, you couldn't help the single tear that rolled down your face. And here you'd thought you'd gotten better at handling your constant fear for her. Apparently not.

"Sora?" your friend asked, as he cocked his head to the side and surveyed you with a saddened expression—so much more emotive than Xion could ever even hope to be, you thought bitterly. "What's wrong? You jus' tell ol' Goofy her' about it. I mean… I owe ya, fer helping to keep this trip from being a total bore for me. Ahyuck!"

Goofy… what a fitting name for someone who had been able to keep you out of the dumps for a moment, you thought warmly.

And maybe it was for that reason, that even though you knew this was probably a terrible idea and could even be putting Kairi on the line, you found yourself sitting up straight—giving Goofy your full attention, for just a second, as the ship finally began being tied up at the dock—and asked him:

"Have you- have you ever heard of the Cycle being a bad thing? My friend-she went missing because of it! I don't mean that they took her or anything like that!" you tried to cover up hastily, though your voice did that weird higher pitched thing that it always seemed to when you were lying. "I just… I think the stress of it all became too much for her, and she ran away somewhere."

The look in Goofy's eyes after you'd gotten done telling him that was absolutely tragic. And it was then right there that you somehow knew that you'd been right in telling the weird, goggle wearer of your turmoil.

And you also sensed… that you might have just made one of the most meaningful and helpful friendships that anyone could have ever accomplished.

At first apologizing for your loss, and then wishing that you'd find her soon, Goofy then set to scratching his head in thought, before he came to a conclusion that gave you your next idea to look for your girlfriend. "Hmm… Well, I'd be lying if I said I hadn' thought it was a bad thing in the past. Fer poor people, especially, who have ta pay fer the things they bough' real close to the Cycle for a second time during it. It's like taxes but worse, since yer not getting' anythin' out of it. That's abou' the worst thing I can imagin'!"

Goofy told you with wide, angry, and even somewhat tearful eyes. Calming himself instantly, though, he continued down a more positive train of thought, by saying, "One a the people I admire and cherish the friendship of mos' once used his inner position ta try and investigate the Cycle, and ta put a stop to it all. He didn't succeed, but I think he did make sum progress, in getting some people ta see the error of thei' ways. If ya want- I could get ya in contact with him. Maybe he'd know somethin' that can help ya out. If your girlfriend becomes aware of thin's getting a bit better, maybe she'll come back! Ahyuck!"

Resisting the urge to correct Goofy, and to tell him that Kairi technically wasn't your girlfriend, you found yourself promptly hugging your new friend—a hug he returned, by patting you on the back with a small, quick hand—you said with all the sincerity that you had in you: "Thank you so much, Goofy! You've been a great help. With this- I might just be able to save Kairi. Thank you. Thank you so much!"

Goofy might have said something back to you, but at that moment you were both being ushered out of the Voyager.

Blushing sheepishly, you couldn't believe you'd forgotten that you were supposed to be getting off, but you didn't care too much at the moment, either.

Exchanging information with Goofy, so that the two of you could find each other later if you wanted to, you quickly pulled out the strange, blunt sword that Naminé had given you out of your bag.

Doodling atop part of the water that had frozen over, as you began your journey to the Main Island, you noticed that a purple letter "K" had appeared on the top of the water.

…

The first thing you did in the morning, following your informative talk with Goofy, was turn on the computer at your desk and hop online to see if Kairi had posted anything on any of her Social Network sites or something.

Maybe… maybe if she had gotten away from her captors just long enough, she could have found some sort of device to post a message somewhere? You certainly hoped so, and for the next few hours—even missing the school bus, so that you'd be late for school once again—you fished around for any new activity or anything that stood out to you.

Unfortunately, you didn't find anything. And at that… the darkness at the edge of your vision—and the shakiness of your body: oh no. You were having a fit again—threatened to pull you under.

You wouldn't let it, though. Not when you had new hope and had planned to be productive today.

Taking some of your pills out of the drawer on your desk, you downed three of them in one gulp—the scratchiness of it in your throat serving to remind you that you really hadn't eaten or drunk anything in the last few hours—and you rocketed down the stairs.

To… see your mom doing warm up exercises in the kitchen. You grimaced. Not for how wrong some of her  _calisthenics_  could look at times, or for seeing her work out for the first time or anything like that—actually, you were more than used to your mother keeping perfectly in shape—but because something had just occurred to you.

Why hadn't you- Why hadn't you thought of it before? Promising yourself you'd remedy it now, you quickly left the kitchen and headed into the blue matted living room to find your mother.

"Hey, Mom?" you asked, only when you'd stolen the TV remote and had paused the program, so that Tifa wouldn't hit you by accident as you approached her. "Can I… Can I talk to you about something important?"

She turned to look at you with a disapproving look on her face. As always, she knew that you were late for school, but since you could never get there on time no matter what you did, she'd given up trying to see you there. That didn't mean that she was pleased about it, though.

Pushing a sweaty lock out of her face as she regarded you curiously—before going into the kitchen to get a bottle of water from the fridge, something you were quick to do as well—she took one swig of her drink, before replying rather breathlessly, "Okay, shoot, Sora."

Sometimes… sometimes you forgot that your mom could be awesome at times. She wasn't nearly as bad as Cloud, and though she could have complaining to you about school right now… she must have seen the look on your face, and had opted not to.

And if she- And if she did end up helping you find Kairi, you promised yourself that you'd try to have the relationship with her that she probably deserved. You'd try, anyway.

"Mom… hypothetically speaking, say that Selphie got kidnapped. Do you think- do you think that she'd be able to fight off her captors, escape the vehicle, and be in another city, trying to get home or something?"

To your mom's credit, she didn't spit the water out in shock or anything similar to that. Rather, she caught her breath, and looked at you with one eye peaked up—hands on her hips—as she questioned: "Selphie, you say? That little scrapper who used to beat everyone up with jump-ropes? She could probably defend herself okay, I think; her build's not the greatest, but that girl would sure have determination on her side. I mean, it certainly takes determination to host as many events as she does. Why do you ask?" she ventured, as she looked at you suspiciously.

Okay… so maybe your attempts to keep the conversation away from Kairi hadn't worked as well as you had thought they would. And at this point, everyone knew that Kairi was missing.

In fact, you knew that you were one of the main suspects, since you'd always been around her and since you had no mental health to speak of. You even knew you probably would have been brought in for questioning long ago, if Destiny Islands' law enforcement wasn't such a joke… and if the Cycle wasn't going on. And if the government wasn't the ones behind its evil, you thought bitterly.

"N-no reason," you hastily tried to explain, as you went to fetch a granola bar and to head towards the door. You didn't like how false you sounded even to your own ears.

Your parents… they had to know what losing Kairi was doing to you. And maybe… maybe you should have been telling them what you were up to, they'd worry, of course, since they owned the rights to you, so to speak, but… maybe they could help.

If they didn't think you were involved or the culprit, of course, and you weren't sure that that wasn't the case.

Making your decision right then and there, you made up a half-truth, about how you were learning self-defense in P.E. class—and how Selphie had wiped the floor with everyone, to your surprise—and then you made your leave: thinking all the while that you might never come back.

...

In the end, you didn't end up going to school, after all. Your work was piling up, you knew, since you usually missed part of your first class, anyway, and you hadn't been there or working on anything since Kairi had gone missing, but…

Instead, you found yourself going back to where you'd seen the first letter of Kairi's name before. And though you pressed your sword to what was left of the ice as thoroughly as you could, spinning this way and that to see if there was a certain movement that had triggered it before, you found nothing. You tried not to let it discourage you.

Digging your phone out of your pocket, you thought about calling Goofy for help: Maybe—maybe it had been his presence before that had allowed that image to appear? But then you realized what it really might have been, and you couldn't help but snarl.

Heading back towards the shack where you'd first discussed with Naminé—in what felt like a dream now—you broke into the blonde girl's home, and instantly regretted what you found there.

"Naminé!" you bellowed, as you found the girl sprawled out on the ground, like she had been when you'd seen her last.

Running over to her at once, and shaking her shoulder (were you- were you supposed to turn a choking person over or not? Was that even what was happening to her?), you cried out, "Naminé, Naminé, hey! Wake up, okay?! I saw what you were trying to tell me before. It might be the key to helping Kairi, even! Namin-"

Yawning, and sitting up groggily, Naminé looked at you as if you'd lost your mind, as you cautiously helped the girl to her feet—you still hadn't forgotten your earlier irritations with her, though, and the idea that maybe she was just playing a game with you, and that she had conjured up the letter that you'd seen earlier—and patted her on her shoulders awkwardly.

Then, sounding much more dire to you than the last time you'd seen her, Naminé spoke: "I don't... I don't know how what you say can be, Sora. The Remnants haven't exactly come yet, and I doubt you stirred the water like how I told you to. You probably did it very unceremoniously, but if you really saw something—and I can see in your eyes that you believe you did-I suppose I'll believe you. You must be very lucky, Sora. Very lucky, indeed."

Yeah, right. Since when had "being "lucky accounted for losing the love of your life in a terrible way, and being insane even before that? You didn't say that, though. After all, you got the sense that Naminé might have suffered much more than you ever had.

What would it have been like, to be born of such inbreeding, so that she could have such strong magic still, you wondered.

Shaking your head to rid it of that thought, you looked to Naminé with about as much patience as you had within you, before stating: "Well, I'm not... I'm not going to stir the water like it's a witch's brew or anything like that. That would be embarrassing, and... probably wouldn't help me find Kairi at all. But anyway, what are these 'Remnant' things? And do you happen to know Goofy—or a Goofy's friend in the Council—at all?"

Naminé looked at you very peevishly for the first of your words, and you found yourself thinking that maybe she'd begin saying religious things to you—about what had happened to Moses, when he had refused to speak to the rock—in retribution, but she held her tongue.

Then, getting up and dancing to her small kitchen island, she came back to the room with a teacup in hand, and grinned at you more pleasantly when she said, "Hmm... the names don't exactly ring any bells. Though I remember hearing that there was something odd—goofy, as you say, perhaps—about one particular, famous politician. Do you think you might force information out of these people and find a way to get to Kairi?"

If Naminé was asking you such things, you knew it couldn't bode well. Wasn't she the one who was supposed to know what was going on, and had told you what to do during a trance? What sort of business did she have looking at you in as much the lost way that you had her?

Also... you didn't like how calmly Naminé drank tea, whilst discussing Kairi's fate like this. It was almost like she didn't care for the situation at all. But then again... she wasn't even drinking from the glass she was holding, was she? So maybe... maybe it just calmed her nerves or something?

"Do you..." you said, forgetting momentarily what you'd wanted to ask the witch a moment ago, and instead found yourself throwing caution to the wind, to starve off your own curiosity. "Do you happen to know a Xion at all? Or-"

You instantly trailed off, when you noted that the same expression that had appeared on Xion's face earlier, when you'd breached the same subject with her, seemed to be making itself known on Naminé's own. She, too, was clasping a hand over her voice and looking distant.

Finally, in a very broken sort of voice, she explained something that you'd feared all along. "I was- I'm sorry, Sora, but I was lying before when I said I didn't know in what manner people come back from the Cycle in. They come back as they once were, with their memories and most of their personas... But their souls are different. They feel differently about things. And Xion's soul is the one I used to have, and mine is what hers once was. And if you don't want the same thing to happen to Kairi... we must break into the Capital post-haste."

...

Your response to what Naminé had said was rather downplayed: you found yourself thinking miserably, as you got on a train with the blonde—you noticed she was dressed much more normally than usual, cheetah prints running this way and that on her jumpsuit—but maybe so much had happened to you lately, that your threshold for weirdness had deepened. How you hoped that wasn't the case...

And even worse than that: you began to worry that maybe you'd begun to grow numb to what had happened to Kairi and what could happen to her still. It was for that reason, though you'd never admit it to yourself, that you'd gone home for just a moment, after getting the news from Naminé, and had packed what few things you could for your journey.

As you'd thought when you left your house earlier that morning, you didn't plan on returning any time soon: not until you found Kairi, anyway. Until then, you'd stay at Naminé's or Goofy's and work nonstop to find the person most precious to you.

Even if... even if some of that was through sleep. You were almost certain now that the last dream you had had had been a premonition Kairi had given you in some way, and if that was your only chance of finding her again… you would take it.

Leaning your head back against the wall behind you—and feeling like you were going to get lice for all your efforts—you closed your eyes, and dreamed.

Naminé, the last thing you noticed in the back of your mind before you nodded off, also seemed to be yawning, as her closed eyes moved about in Restless Eye Movement. Maybe she was trying to find Kairi, too. Maybe…

…

You'd never given much thought to lucid dreaming during your sixteen years on this earth. Not even when... Not even when your mind was at its worst, or the times that you almost found that you wanted to be lost in the throws of something, but when you found yourself in some bizarre, square, dark blue space, you found that maybe it should have been one of your life ambitions.

It was an interesting sort of place you found yourself in. Not scary, per se, because even though there was some fog that seemed to prance across the bottom of the area, it wasn't the eerie, white/gray stuff that you'd come to expect on the rare occasions that the Island did get fog.

Rather, it just painted the area in even darker shades of navy, the way that a shoebox's lid might cast shadows on the bottom of it, you thought.

And with... with how small the room you found yourself in was, it almost felt as though maybe you  _were_  in one such holder.

Not so much, though, when lightning seemed to strike behind your head. But even with how frightening that was, you couldn't shake the feeling that you were completely safe within this place.

Instead of a shock of fire that might have been about to blow your head off, you thought that maybe the light had been meant to represent an idea coming into your head. Maybe.

Turning around to face where the yellow light had existed just a moment ago, you instantly let out a surprised gasp when right in front of your eyes... was the girl that you'd been looking for for so long.

You didn't even remember crossing the distance between you, as you caught Kairi up in your arms—clutching her to you desperately—and cried.

Who knew? Since this was a dream, maybe you hadn't even run to her. Maybe... maybe you'd simply teleported to where she was through willpower alone?

Whatever the case may be, you were so, so happy that you hadn't tripped over your big feet once, and that you were able to get to Kairi so easily. And you told her just that, when the gift of speech seemed to return itself to you.

And when she giggled in response, you promised yourself that you'd never take that sound fore granted again. Never. Rather, you'd spend your entire life trying to get her to be constantly happy like that all the time. You owed her that much... after having lost her, after having lashed out at her for being something that she had no control over: rich.

Had you been an idiot then or what? Just because you'd been down on the world—just because you'd been jealous of her wealth—didn't mean that you should have taken it out on the single-handed best person you'd ever met.

And now... and now- now you knew you might never even get the chance to take it all back.

"Sora, Sora-" Kairi called a second time, pulling away from you, so that you could see the seriousness in her eyes.

Right. This was a dream, which meant you only had so much time with her. And for that reason, you needed to make sure that she told you everything that she needed to before the fantasy vanished.

"Sora," Kairi admonished, as she put her hands on her hips, and looked at you with one widened eye: looking you over for any sign that you might not have been really listening, most likely. "You're shaking like a leaf, hon. I'm fine. Really! No need to go to cardiac arrest in your own dream or anything like that, but... I am so glad to see you," she told you with a shy smile and blush—looking down at her high-heeled feet as she did so.

And in that instant, the moment that all of the breath you'd been holding left you in a single gasp, you found yourself realizing what you'd been loath to admit to yourself prior to this moment, in the off-chance it proved to be naught.

This was... this was really Kairi. Your subconscious would have replicated the part where she dismissed her own pain, sure—so as to keep you from suffering—but never would it have had Kairi looking sad and vulnerable (something she was clearly trying to hide) like she was now.

No, you saw her as tough, fierce, and independent. So if Kairi really was choking back tears at seeing you... then that meant that she really must have been suffering somewhere right now, right?

If just seeing you could do this to her, and make her so happy... God, what sort of terrible things must they have been doing to her wherever she was?

Choking back a sob, you looked at Kairi with mourning eyes—wishing to pull her into your arms again, so that you could keep her there and safe forever, but something stopped you in your tracks.

Kairi... she looked so different. Her hair was piled up into a neat little bun on her head, something she would have never done, you knew, as she was too much of a tomboy for that. And she was wearing a dark blue—as dark as the room around you—evening gown and shoes.

This- this wasn't Kairi like at all, you realized. And if that was the case, did that mean that-

"Yes," the redhead informed you—seeming to read your mind somehow. "I'm... the real me where I'm at right now, but I- I am starting to change all ready. And I'm- I'm communicating with you and keeping my spirit alive with sheer force of will, but it's no big deal," your girlfriend was quick to try and assure you, as she smiled at you falsely. "I know you'll find and save me, Sora. Or better yet: maybe I can escape myself and meet you halfway. That way you can get back to your family sooner, and-"

Right. Kairi was a stickler in believing that your mother and father loved you much more than they let on. No doubt she was nearly dying with grief right now, in realizing you'd willingly left them to come look for her.

Kairi... she was such a good person. And now, right at this very moment, someone was trying to take her soul—the essence of who she really was—from you and there was nothing you could do about it. Nothing!

"Kairi," you broke in, before she could change the subject to your parents instead of where she was and how you could save her. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you and I both know I don't deserve it. You've been gone for more than a week—you're losing yourself, even—and I'm no closer to finding you now than I was when you first vanished. I'm so sorry. I feel like there's nothing I can do," you admitted: a secret you'd never wanted to admit even to yourself, and here you were, admitting it to the last person you wanted to know the truth of your words. The truth that you were unable to find and save her.

"God, Kairi. I can't even tell you how sorry I am for what I said before. Not in the real world, anyway, if I can't even do that… what are my chances of being able to help you at all?!"

You felt sick. Sick to the very core. And you knew that if what was going on had been anything other than a dream, you would have keeled over or lost your lunch by now. And though ended up doing neither of those things, you did fall to your knees.

And Kairi... Kairi just stood there, looking at you in a torn sort of way. You knew, because you knew her so well, that what she really wanted to do was comfort you.

And the way that she did kneel over you, so that she might run soothing circles along your back, was so very much like a princess knighting one of her subjects… but also different somehow. It felt... good. Not that you deserved that, of course.

As you raised your head up to look into her tear-stained eyes, you could tell that Kairi wanted nothing more than to aid you, but she had no time to offer words or reassurance anymore. None at all.

"Sora," she finally said at last. And even then it sounded far away—and the fog you'd noticed as non-hurtful before was starting to rise and cover her like vines, in its attempt to spear her away from you.

"All of this is about one member of the Council's ploy for money. They think that if we are replaced with more docile and lesser versions of ourselves, we'll pay anything that they want in taxes. And... they think that since we'll be so much more simple this way, that war will also cease, but… they're taking away what makes us human. They have to be stopped at all costs. And the only way for you to do that... is to purify the Remnants.

"Good... goodbye, Sora," Kairi whispered, fractured looking, as she somehow seemed to morph into the area around her. "Don't worry about anything, okay? It's not your fault. I'll see you soon in one way or another, my little genius, and I-"

Kairi might have said she loved you, or something else different, but at that point it was too late for you to know.

She was gone.

And the area was all ready starting to fade into the train that you were on with Naminé.

No one... no one had ever called you a genius before. And though you certainly didn't feel like one, or someone who was owed that type of kindness, you did find relief in that one thing, at least.

"I... I love you, too, Kai. I love you, too."


	4. Chapter Four: You're Waiting on a Train

"What are... what are the remnants?" you asked Naminé after you'd woken up—well, after you'd woken up and downed some peanuts first, you silently amended. "You mentioned them before, but you never answered my question about them."

For some reason, you felt as though this wasn't the sort of question that Naminé would want to answer, as she looked into your eyes. So mindful of her rights and wish for privacy, you found yourself looking out the window again—only mildly surprised when you found that there were red streaks on the window, like there'd been when you'd first met the witch.

Was it blood, you found yourself wondering now. Before, you'd dismissed the idea as unlikely, but back then you'd known nothing at all.

Now... now that you knew about the Council's—or at least one Council member's—plan, the idea didn't seem as ludicrous to you. Wasn't bleeding out the souls of people into lesser versions of themselves exactly what was happening?

But... but how did that account for Naminé and Xion? Even though they currently bore each other's former soul, they didn't seem like they were any lesser than what they might have been before.

But then again... you didn't know what they'd been like before—or how or why they were someone else now, when they weren't supposed to be—either.

Unless... unless everyone's soul was eventually recycled like that for some reason? But if so, didn't that defeat the purpose of the official doing everything that he was to turn everyone into sheep like people? Unless... unless Naminé and Xion had been affected in a way differently than everyone else had. Gah! Your head hurt!

"Remnants," Naminé answered at last, "are the impure form of water that Kairi and I both have told you to face. They float into the air like sea weed might float upon an ocean, and when they become charged with electricity... they become sentient, and something you never want to face."

Suddenly the lightning you'd seen in your dream didn't seem so pleasant anymore. Was that what your mind—no: was that what Kairi—had been hinting at?

"How do you- how do you know all of this?" you questioned your new friend, as you turned to face her and also took some more of your medicine.

If you were going to be fighting mythological monsters, you had to be at the top of your game, you knew. And you did feel a lot better and saner than usual, but man was taking so much prescription starting to make your head pound!

"From what Kairi told me... it seems like this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. And it's being done by some power hungry monster in need of power, no less?" But even that didn't made sense to you, seeing as how magic was supposed to be a long lost art, let alone powerful magic like this. But then again... when had anything made sense to you?

And it was even worse now—that someone was trying to take Kairi's guiding light away from you. And a world without her wasn't a place you wanted to imagine.

And if it ever you did lose her… well, you couldn't imagine yourself sticking around to fight for the rest of the world for very long. Heck, you might not even stay in at all. What would- what would be the point? Surely meeting Kairi in the afterlife would be better than becoming part of the Cycle.

"I don't really know if that's right, per se," Naminé explained—turning around to face the other side of the train herself, as she pulled a sketchbook from her bag and began doodling some charts onto it: probably ways to go about using different sorts of magic, you assumed. "But it's not the first time that Remnants have existed. They existed long ago, back when most people were born with the power to weave spells, and so mentions of them are in the right history books, if you look for it.

"But... this is certainly the first time that someone has been able to enact their wrath again in centuries. I can't even figure how that sort of thing's possible. I don't think I ever could be able to reach that sort of power, and I'm a pureblood! But since the power of magic has dissipated more and more with each passing day, so has the power that I should have."

Well, that certainly was a conundrum, you found yourself agreeing with the younger girl as you nodded your head in understanding. Who in the world could have come across that power when even Nami was incapable of it, and how?

For an instant, your mind wandered to Xion. Could it... could it have been that she had the powers, since she bore Naminé's former soul? While that kind of thing didn't seem completely impossible, you somehow doubted that Xion could have been that powerful even with that. And if she did have powers... they weren't even really hers.

Who else was there, then? You were pretty certain now that Kairi had some sort of power. Normal people couldn't dream walk, after all, but... she of course wouldn't have kidnapped herself, so it definitely wasn't Kairi.

And besides, even though you were sure that she and Naminé had probably bonded over their powers and had practiced when they had hung out... you couldn't imagine her being anywhere near as powerful as Naminé was. She was only her cousin, after all, so that meant she couldn't have gotten what Naminé had in having an entire family of magicians in her line, and that meant...

Well, that meant that you were fresh out of ideas.

Maybe... maybe Goofy would have some sort of idea, you hoped. He had contact with at least one person in the Council, he'd said, and as Goofy seemed to you the type of person who could befriend anyone, you didn't think it farfetched that he could have found another witch or warlock. Maybe...

Whatever the case, though, you knew you'd find out soon enough, for that was exactly where you and Naminé were heading (to Naminé's minor annoyance, it seemed). Hopefully, you'd be there soon, and then… then maybe you could use Goofy and his friend as a distraction, while you broke into the Council meeting and found Kairi!

"Don't worry, Sora," Naminé said with the sort of kindness that you thought she must have usually kept buried, until she found out whether or not she could trust someone. "We'll get to the Council Building soon. I can't imagine that Kairi would be anywhere else, and when we get there, you can- you can save her, like the amazing person she always told me you were."

To say that you blinked sheepishly at those words would have been an understatement. Though you'd now accepted that Kairi and Naminé must have spent a lot of time together, without you knowing, you'd yet to wrap your head around the idea that they might have talked about you: embarrassing and awful things, no doubt, but also some good and flattering things as well, maybe.

"Thank you, Naminé," you told her politely—not entirely sure how you felt about getting on so well with Kairi's cousin, when Kairi herself was still in peril. And yet… you were grateful all the same.

"And this is probably a loaded question, Nami, but... you don't happen to read minds, do you? You and Kairi both, I mean. More than a few times, the two of you have seemed to know exactly what I'm thinking, so I'm kind of curious, I guess."

_Not that I think you'd be honest about it, even if it were true, so as not to lose an advantage_ , you thought: but not before thinking that if the telepathy thing was, in fact, a thing, you might could alert Kairi to your presence as soon as you got to the compound where she was at. Wouldn't that have been great?!

Naminé tittered at your question. Bringing her knees up to rest against her chest—and wrapping her arms around them, before resting her chin there—the girl answered you in a rather flippant way, that instantly made you suspicious. "Gosh, no! If we had that sort of ability, we would have been more than a few steps away from the kidnappers all ready, I think! But having female intuition is a good thing, too."

You mouthed those two words back at her then—hearing how weird they felt on your own lips, and how unlikely they were to be the answer at all.

And while Naminé could have instantly rebuked you for that—in seemingly trying to flirt with her, while your true love, her cousin, was gone—instead she looked at you blankly, almost with suspicion in her eyes, as she noted something: "You seem better somehow, Sora. Less cynical and angry all the time, maybe. It's a nice change, but I wonder what could have brought it on."

The truth was... the truth was that you were always like this. It was just that when your mind was out of control... the good things seemed to scatter away, like the way earth split apart through tectonic plates.

You could barely grasp onto anything with your insanity, but rather felt like you were falling down some dark, deep hole—desperately trying to wrap the remainders of yourself atop you like a security blanket, before they disappeared completely, but you…

You had no idea how to explain that to Naminé, so you let the moment pass.

And reclining your head against the seat again, and closing your eyes, you hoped to dream of Kairi once more, just as the wheels of the train screeched loudly on the tracks, making Naminé jump.

...

You weren't sure why it was exactly, but when the train finally rolled to a halt—ending at a station that wasn't too far from Goofy's house, so you could just walk over—you found yourself calling Riku to inform him of what you were doing.

You didn't give him—or rather, his voicemail—all of the gory details, but rather you told him that you thought that Kairi was being held in the Council building, and that you were going there to free her, no matter what the cost.

It wasn't so much that you wanted his moral support or hero worship or anything like that—in fact, you were worried that he might alert your parents to what was happening and ruin the whole thing—but you needed to know that someone else who cared about Kairi... outside of the group who was going with you, might live to help free her if something went hairy on your end.

But you knew... you were more than willing to die if it would see Kairi to safety. And you knew, that no matter what transpired today, you would free her somehow and someway.

And it was with these types of thoughts that your mind was completely occupied as you followed Naminé—carrying the address of Goofy's that you'd given her—up the large, winding, cobblestone hill, east of the station, to get to where Goofy lived, without a thought at all about the area.

Boy did you have a thought when you got to his house, though! House, for one thing, was putting it much too mildly. What you saw before you was a mansion. A mansion that looked almost too big to be sitting on the small base that it was, without toppling over.

For one crazy moment, you wondered if Goofy had magic, too—and maybe that was how he was getting his home to stay there without falling off—but you quickly waved it away.

It was a very lovely home, you thought. A stark white three stories, held up by cobbled stone, and with a welcoming balcony jutting off of the third floor: like a DVD might look, spilling out of a horizontal shelf and away from its companions.

You also thought that the house was very... round looking. There were no sharp angles as far as the eye could see at all, and it was the kind of thing that you thought a baby would positively eat up. So maybe, in that way, it was like Goofy, but otherwise...

Then again, maybe you'd just been stupid to forget that Goofy had a contact in the Council, and was obviously well off for that reason.

"This place reminds me of a book I read once, where men were called to a beautiful, evil woman's mansion, and turned into glass and never returned. I think by doing this to them, she was able to maintain her beauty... but this is just nervous nonsense I'm spouting. After all, you said that 'Goofy' was a boy, right? And I like some of the brightness and architecture here. Just ignore me."

"Yeah... sure thing, Naminé." And it was about in the moment that you said that—after having given the blonde a certain, amused look—that the massive, rectangular and golden door swung open to emit Goofy's presence.

You found that you might have felt self-conscious about the whole thing in that moment, and maybe even worrying whether or not Goofy was the person you thought he was or not, if he hadn't scratched the back of his head sheepishly—as he looked at you with a pleasant smile on his face—as soon as he saw you.

Breathing a sigh of relief then, you decided that Goofy wasn't secretly a slave to the system, after all, and that the state of his home had nothing on who he was.

Naminé might have been having similar thoughts. You noticed that she was looking about herself in every which way, as if trying to figure out why there weren't any animals or pedestrians anywhere near the place, but perhaps being assured by Goofy's presence herself, she stopped her fretting.

"I was afraid... I was afraid that someone who lived at a place like this might turn their nose up at us, and not even let us in," Naminé explained shyly, as she tucked her arms behind her back and looked down at her shoes. "Thank you for not doing that, though, Mr. Goofy."

It was about at that moment that Goofy elbowed his way through his open door—something weird to you, seeing as how he was quite slim and the passageway was very wide, but maybe he was a klutz?—and put one hand atop your shoulder. "Gawrsh, is it good to see you, Sora! And could this girl here be- Why, is it the friend you've been lookin' for?! Ahyuck! If so, congratulations, buddy! Why don' ya come in to celebrate?!"

Later, you would wonder what sort of look you must have been wearing on your face to make Goofy's smile melt off his face as effectively as it did then. Such a thing shouldn't have been possible, you thought, since it was a beautiful day outside and Goofy was such a chipper person... but there you were, destroying someone's mood by your own, regardless.

You hated the idea of dragging Goofy into this. You really did, but maybe... Maybe there was nothing for it.

Tucking a frizzing piece of hair behind your ear (due to the humid heat), you told Goofy solemnly, "No. This is Kairi's cousin, actually, and she's serving to help me find her... before it's too late." Once again, it was nearly impossible to even get such painful words out, but you continued on for Kairi's sake anyway. "

I know it's too much to ask of you Goofy, and I really regret doing so, but do you think you could get us into the Council building? I think that Kairi's there. So… if you could maybe distract everyone while we try to get to her, I'd really appreciate it," you said with a quick bow—leaning over so far, in fact, that you felt a sharp pain in your stomach for the action.

Naminé seemed to be a bit uncomfortable too, you thought. When she wasn't holding a hand over her eyes to block out the rays of the sun, she seemed to be twitching her right hand, in a wish to use her magic if things went sour, maybe.

At your words, Goofy looked at you blankly. And you almost found yourself worrying that what the two of you had discussed on the boat—and your sudden friendship through it—was all a lie, and that maybe he hadn't understood your intent there at all.

If that was the case, you didn't know what you'd do. You didn't think he'd turn you in or anything like that, but still... if he refused to help, you knew that Naminé and yourself were going to have a very hard time of it.

Recovering quickly, though, Goofy said with as much gentleness one could have in saying what he did next, that, "Gawrsh, Sora, don't take this the wrong way: but I thought for ser you'd just bust in ther' and make a scene, until finally you had Kairi safely in yer arms agin. In fact, I thought ya already mighta done so, but if not... Well, I'd be might' happy to help ya!"

And just as soon as the words had left Goofy's mouth—and he quickly went back inside to grab a jacket, before closing the door behind him—you noticed that Naminé's hand had stopped shaking. Good, she must have trusted you and what you were doing, too, then. And what was more than that...  _both_  of your new friends seemed to trust you impeccably.

Even if- even if they both undoubtedly noted that you might have had a homicidal side about you, when it came to setting Kairi free, if need be.

And maybe in the end, you did. Maybe in the end, it would come down to that sort of thing. And you knew as soon as you stopped the other's two journey back down the hill—where you would hopefully find a plane to take you to The Land of Departure—that you really probably should have just let it go.

Why argue about semantics when Kairi didn't have time? It was stupid to worry about such a dumb thing, but somehow that's exactly what you ended up doing.

Poking Goofy in the pectoral, so he'd stop for a moment and you could face him, you explained to his quiet questioning the best that you could, "I could- I could never just kill millions like that to get to Kairi like you hinted at, Goofy. I may hate the Council, but I know there are innocents there. You and your friend are proof of that.

"But more than that... the first friend I ever made—even before Kairi and my old friend Riku, back when I was a toddler—was my adult babysitter. He had a real temper and said some mean things sometimes, but... Meeting someone that had such a good heart as Donald did, before he- before he died, well… it inspired me to be a better person.

"So I could never easily kill someone from the Council. Not ever. Not after knowing that Donald came from there."

Leaving Goofy to ponder that, you quickly hurried after Naminé—praying to the high heavens that she'd been right, when she'd said she could use magic to teleport you to an airport, so that you could get to Kairi even faster now.

...

Naminé made good on her promise of getting the three of you to an airport. It wasn't as much as you'd hoped for, though. In the most traitorous parts of your heart, though you never would have admitted this to Naminé, you'd hoped that she could send you to the Council building itself, but… it wasn't in her power to do so, unfortunately. Something about water messing up her magic, she had said.

And though you really wanted to ask her if maybe that was something she could overcome with more than one person, maybe—like Xion, perhaps, she had seemed to want to help you find Kairi before you'd pissed her off by talking about Naminé before –you let the question die on your lips.

You sensed that Naminé carried a strong guilt and sadness about what had happened to Xion... even moreso than what had happened to herself, it seemed. Could it have been that she hated the idea that even with so much magic she couldn't set right the most important thing that had ever happened to her? It certainly seemed likely to you...

"So," you said, as you sat down on one of the plane seats beside Naminé and Goofy both—you steered clear of the window, though, because you weren't sure you could stomach seeing yourself go up off the ground so very high, thank you very much. "Naminé this is Goofy, Goofy, Naminé. Play nice now, you two."

You really didn't know why you'd felt the need to say that: you were sure that the two of them would be on their best behavior, and they'd all ready been somewhat introduced, but...

Conversation was still a nice thing, and something you were lacking at the moment. Especially since your nerves seemed to be getting the better of you.

You couldn't believe—you couldn't believe this was finally happening. That maybe in a short moment's time, you'd have Kairi back again. And when that happened, you knew you'd ask her to marry you without a moment's hesitation. You couldn't imagine wanting anything more in your life, even if it felt somehow wrong to you.

"No problem, Sora!" Goofy replied enthusiastically, pumping his fist into the air, and looking very much like your father did, when he tried to act and sound young (though Goofy's trial was much more tolerable). "With the way ya talk about Kairi, she must be great! And if miss Naminé here is he'; cousin, then she must also be swell!"

Surprisingly, Naminé didn't seem offended at that like you thought she might have; You knew well the fierceness that belied her calm exterior, so Goofy assuming that she was good, only because of her connection to Kairi, didn't seem look a smart thing to say to you—even if the reasoning for it was kind.

Naminé, surprising you, though, actually seemed to blush slightly at the flattery, and muttered a quick "thank you" to Goofy—before explaining how it had been a long time since someone had compared her to Kairi, and that even though she didn't think she deserved it—probably because of the whole Xion thing, you now thought—she was appreciative of it all the same.

And suddenly, just like that, you found yourself wondering about something you should have been worrying about all along. "Naminé, where are your parents? You must be worrying them, right? And all of this traveling... it must be getting expensive for you. I know that it is for me, and boat rides are even free—and you did teleport us to this airport, which helps things—but..."

"I appreciate the thought, Sora, I really do... but you needn't worry. I used to have parents, yes. But not anymore. I ran away and never looked back. And, no. They weren't awful to me or anything like that; quite the opposite, really, but... I couldn't have endured seeing them again after a certain thing happened. It's better this way for everyone involved, so please just drop it. If anyone, you should... you should be worrying about Mr. Goofy here. He might have just left an entire life behind to help you, after all."

And as Naminé's point rang loud and true in your ears, you found you'd never hated yourself more than you did in that moment. Somehow... somehow you always forgot—probably because you were still an idiot kid—that adults had people they needed to report to, too.

Or maybe... maybe you just didn't normally think of parents, because you hated yours so much, but...

You had taken Goofy away from something, hadn't you? And if not that, you could definitely be leading him to danger—or to betraying his friendship with the person in the Council—and you didn't want that at all.

You were about to say so, even, but Goofy was cutting you off before you could—explaining that he, too, had cut the ties to his family long ago, since he hadn't wanted them to see him suffer with his diabetes.

And it was in that moment that you realized... even with how weird, out of place, and in different situations you all were with each other... You really were the best ragtag team ever. All of you- All of you had left your families behind without a second thought, hadn't you? And now... now you were going to go save the best person you'd ever met when it came to family—even with how protective her parents were of her: Kairi.

And maybe, if you were lucky, she'd be kind enough to let Goofy into her circle, too, and maybe even you through marriage, and perhaps… even her parents, if she explained everything to them well enough, that was.

That was a nice hope and dream, you thought. It wasn't even as selfish as your usual thoughts about her were, actually.

But since you found yourself wanting to leave Xion, Roxas, and Riku out of the picture—even with all that you knew now—maybe you were still selfish, after all. It wouldn't have surprised you the slightest bit.

Pulling the blade Naminé had given you out of your bag—and making sure to hide it from all the passengers, who might see it as the weapon it was—you tried to figure out why it was that both girls in your life thought you special enough to defeat the Remnants and the entire Cycle system, but you found no answer. None at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that it's been so long since I updated last. Suffice to say, I've had some issues in my life to overcome lately, and have also been VERY sick (my entire family has been, actually), and there's your answer to why I haven't been posting.
> 
> And unfortunately, this will probably be the last chapter I post before the end of NaNo.
> 
> …I suck so much, I know, but once again, I PROMISE you that this story will be done—it's all written, after all; I just need to edit it—so bear with me, please.
> 
> And thanks a bunch for everyone who has stuck with me through the confusion, bad writing, and clichés so far. You're all awesome, and I can't thank you enough for what you do!
> 
> Hope to "see" you guys soon, and wish me luck on National Novel Writing Month, please!
> 
> -Shanna


	5. Chapter Five: Soldiering On

The Land of Departure had to be one of the most beautiful places you'd ever seen.

Even though it wasn't that far from Destiny Islands—or rather, Twilight Town—at all, you'd never been to the lush, green place before: most likely because your parents hated the idea of taking their spectacle of a child anywhere with them.

But you quickly pushed thoughts of your family—and family, in general—out of your mind, as you walked up the beautiful, thin, blue/purple stairs that led you to a massive castle—held up by massive chains—that would then let you enter the rest of the city.

Maybe... maybe the truth was that your parents had thought you'd never want to leave if you came here, and that was the reason they'd never brought you to one of the world's natural wonders?

Of course, in the back of your mind, you knew this wasn't the case, but you lied to yourself that it was, anyway.

Stepping away from the tread path reluctantly, and then stepping over some of the unkempt blue/green grass, you found yourself almost worried that you'd fall right through or break it. After all, how could beautiful grass like this exist in the natural world?

It certainly wasn't fake, though, you found—as you stepped on the rich, springy stuff, that was making your shoes smell of the best dewy scent you could imagine.

Nope. It was all as right as rain. You grinned.

"Sora, could you focus, please?" Naminé asked, annoyed, all ready at the top of the many steps that would take her through the marble castle's entrance.

And if that wasn't enough to make you jump from where you were on the grass, right to the first of the stairs, you didn't know what was.

You hadn't counted on your shoes being damp, though, and you found yourself smacking your lip painfully on the concrete, as you ended up tripping for such a thing.

You thought you might have seen Goofy cringe for your sake, also at the top of the stairs, but you were seeing too many stars to be able to tell for sure.

You knew, then, as you sorely got to your feet and began your way up the narrowing story, that if Kairi were there, she would have put an arm around you, and would have moved to help you upwards.

Goofy, you thought, looked as though he wanted to help, but seemed to stay where he was, so that you all could get to Kairi faster, and Naminé...

Well, she looked a bit angry, but more than anything, you thought she looked tired. You couldn't really blame her, you supposed: she had been using a lot of magic for your sake lately.

Finally, reaching the top of the stairs where your friends were at—but instantly having to take a stop up there, as you'd banged up your knees pretty badly: something Naminé was quick to remedy with her powers—you took in more of your surroundings.

Somehow, the castle hadn't looked like it had as many stairs as it did, when you'd been looking at it from the bottom.

Feeling very much sick, then, as you took in the clouds that were a little too close for comfort, you pushed the two, tall (and oddly thin) double doors open, and thankfully entered what looked like a training room.

The entire area was made up of golds and tans, and only had some other colors here and there to spice things up. There were also three long lines heading up towards the three thrones at the front of the room, and heading off towards the few doors that opened up behind them.

Aaaaaand since this was a checkpoint for anyone to get into the Capital, there was of course there were going to be a ton of people here. You sighed—wondering maybe if it would be better if you just made a run for it; you didn't have time to wait in line like this.

But as Naminé finally appeared behind you—even though she and Goofy were both fast, they hadn't felt like they were about to be sick if they had stayed outside, and had therefore had no excuse to run into the building as fast as you had—she put a hand on your arm to stop your run.

Shaking her head "no" ever so slightly, she indicated with the point of her index finger what line it was that you were supposed to get into, and so you listened.

Goofy, who had came up to stand behind you instead of Naminé as you got in line, was quick to lean over your shoulder, and whisper in your ear: "So da we have a plan fer this rescue mission, or do we just plan to wing it?"

As far as you knew, the only plan you had was for Goofy to summon his friend at the Council building, and to make some kind of scene, but the rest of it... The rest of it you really would have to wing. There was no time like the present to get started, though, right?

For that reason, you were about to ask Goofy to go ahead and call for attention all ready... only to remember that even with how beautiful this building was, it was not the substitute Council building, temporarily standing in for the destroyed ones at Destiny Islands, but rather this place was a gateway to it.

Mickey—as Goofy had finally told you his friend's name was-wouldn't be here at all, then. And even if he was for some reason... there would have been no need to create a ruckus here. It would just slow things down.

So that meant your best bet really was to rely on Naminé, huh? Naminé: who was currently behind Goofy, looking over the fake documents she'd magicked with desperate eyes, as she tried to see if they were up to par with real travel papers.

You didn't envy her job at all, and suddenly you found yourself regretting ever doubting her. If she said this was the best way to get through the checkpoint, who were you to say no to that? She'd yet to be wrong so far, after all.

"Uhh..." you said to Goofy, only after realizing there'd been a long lull in the conversation. "Well, first we have to get through here, right? And more than that, we've got to make everyone believe Naminé and me are eighteen.

"After that, though... Well, we first need to find Destiny Islands' new base of operation here. Do you think it's close by at all? I guess... I guess what we really need is a map, huh?"

Goofy blinked at your query. And though at first you were confused about it, you soon realized that he meant it to be a nod: you'd remember that code for later. The less conspicuous you all could be, the better.

And Naminé, actually, was being anything  _but_  conspicuous at the moment.

Apparently finally pleased with what she'd done with the papers, she first walked in front of Goofy and then you—all ready, you could hear people complaining at the back of the line, as they didn't realize she was with you and thought she was cutting in line—before placing the documents down on the desk in front of her: looking as flirtatious as you had ever seen her.

And hey, every little bit helped, you thought, if you were trying to make people think you were eighteen.

In fact, you wondered if you should have maybe been hitting on the girl, opposite of the boy Naminé was staring at, to help your case along. She was pretty cute, you thought… if you ripped off your Kairi-obsessed-goggles for just a moment.

Short, black hair that was similar to Xion's yet different, wide brown eyes, and a winning smile. Maybe—maybe you could win over this "Yuffie" person (as her nametag dictated that that was what she'd been christened at birth), to your side, but...

But then again, as she sort of looked like she chewed up guys and spit them out for breakfast, you rethought your strategy.

And it would be about that moment, when Naminé was miraculously getting stamps on all three papers, and was being pointed to which door to go through, that a certain someone would appear to ruin everything.

"Sora," came the loud, thundering voice of someone you still knew far too well, as they strode through the room entrance much more gratefully than you probably had. "What in the  _heck_  do you think you are doing?"

Mentally cursing at him with every swear word you, you turned to Riku with a fake smile plastered on your face. The last thing you wanted to do was come off looking suspicious, when things were finally going your way (and your purposefully ignored the looks that Goofy and Naminé might have been wearing), so you said as kindly as you could, "What does it look like, friend? I'm trying to go to The Land of Departure. We'll talk later, okay? Right now, I gotta go."

If you had expected Riku to let it go after that, you would have been deeply disappointed.

Grabbing onto your arm tightly—something Goofy looked none too pleased about, bless your new friend—Riku walked closer to you, and hissed under his breath, "You're going to get yourself killed, moron, and for what? Knowing you, you've probably come up with a stupid half-baked scheme, and since I still remember how stupid your ideas always have been—even when we were growing up-I'm stepping in to stop you."

Would it really have been so bad if you punched Riku in the face now? Would it really? How you  _longed_  to teach the bastard a lesson, and too demand how it was any of his business (this wasn't what you had called him for), or how he'd even gotten here so fast, but as you found you could do no such thing, you simply pulled your arm away from Riku with threatening eyes.

Finally, you were walking toward the door to freedom again, but had Riku given up yet? No. He was still following you.

"Sora!" he called out, much too loudly for a covert operation, you thought with a sneer. You whirled around and glared at him.

Thankfully, Naminé came to your rescue again. Looking at Riku with sad, vulnerable eyes, she placed one gentle hand on his own and beseeched him, "Please, sir. Don't— don't keep Sora away from me. You see... I'm terrified of going through the girl's gateway by myself.

"They say that only females can go through there, but I've all ready seen more than one male step through. What if—what if one tries to mug me, or something? For that very reason, Sora gratefully said he'd step through with me, but I'm— I'm afraid you're keeping him from helping me right now.

"Please excuse us: at least until we get to the other side, please?"

Pulling away from Naminé stood as if he'd been burned—and who knew? Maybe with her powers, she had hurt him—Riku looked at her with horrified eyes (a look you thought you had probably mirrored, in first having met Naminé).

Then, the blonde girl was pulling you away from your former friend, and towards the tunnel that would lead you to the other side: to Kairi.

It was... a bit embarrassing going through the dark tunnel where mostly only girls were. You were getting a lot of dirty looks as you traversed with Naminé, and you didn't even know where Goofy was in all of this.

But as you and Naminé finally broke free to the outside, and to the bright daylight, you found you no longer cared in the slightest.

For right in front of you—in shades of dark brown, and even some cherry wood—was the Destiny Islands Council building, rising up into the air like a towering oak tree might have.

And if you had thought you were ready to bust into the building and find Kairi before, you found yourself doubting the idea now, as many people were going into the building's doors with cake and all manner of things.

Great. There really were going to be innocent civilians in there, wasn't there? Well, that was just going to complicate everything, wasn't it?!

Still... the moment had finally come, and you weren't going to hesitate now.

And you couldn't... you couldn't bear the idea that that cake was currently being distributed to the disgusting people who had started all of this, whilst their captives most likely starved.

You would not let that cake pass a single Council member's lips. You would not!

Maybe when all of this was over, you'd remedy the image of cake in your mind, by proposing to Kairi or something. But more likely than not, you thought you'd destroy the foul stuff.

Yes, those Council members deserved nothing more than to have their precious treat destroyed. That, and so much more...

...

You found yourself sitting on a small, circular garden—resting over the cobblestone street, right off where the doors to the Gateway building lied—with Naminé, as the two of you waited for Goofy.

He was taking... quite a bit of time.

And as it was, you were about to go back inside the building to look for him-worrying that he was looking for you, as maybe he hadn't seen you get away from Riku with Naminé—but you thought that might have done more bad than good. You really didn't need to get into another scuffle with Riku right now, after all.

Maybe... maybe Goofy was just being held up, because there were more guys than girls there?

Yeah... that could have been it. It had to be... you couldn't bear to think of any sort of alternative.

"You seem..." Naminé started, pausing in where she was once again drawing with her sketchbook propped up against her legs. "You seem very nervous, Sora. Take a deep breath, or go walk around or something. Goofy will be here soon, and we can't have you falling apart when the time comes, can we?

"My cousin must have gone through a lot lately, and the last thing she needs to see is her knight of shining armor shaking, like he's a virgin about to have his first time."

You knew that Naminé was just trying to help—you knew it with every fiber of your being, even, and appreciated it, even—but her words had only served to make you feel worse.

You did not want to think about how much Kairi was suffering right now, thank you very much.

It was also... sort of unnerving, taking in the town before you, and seeing how everyone else was milling around being normal, when your entire life had been turned upside down.

They had... they had no idea about the horrors that were awaiting them, and for that reason... everyone was completely happy: buying and eating caramel apples with their loved ones, pushing their friends in line—as they argued about who would be the first to drink from the water fountain; birds chirping merrily, and even landed on some lucky folk's shoulder to let them pet them...

It was unnatural, you found yourself thinking. Disgusting, even. You couldn't imagine how anyone could ever live so unaware of things like these people were.

Even when... even when you'd been happy with Kairi, you'd never been this foolish and oblivious, had you?

These people... these people seemed so full of themselves, that you thought that if they'd been in your shoes... they would have forgotten Kairi in a moment, and would have asked Naminé out for a date: the thought didn't exactly make you feel good.

And suddenly, you found yourself completely hating The Land of Departure.

"Oh, there he is. Goofy. Over here!" Naminé called out with a small wave, before she returned to her sketchbook and began to stand up.

Idly, you had to wonder how Naminé was staying so well put together. But then again, if she really did condition her magic through her art, maybe it was therapeutic for her.

And in any case... she had been through a lot. Maybe this was just another day in the park for her...

Aaaaand that was another thought that you didn't value very much.

Or maybe... maybe she was so powerful, she thought the Council members couldn't stand a chance at all? That would have been nice.

Finally, while you were lost in your thoughts, Goofy came to your side and quickly explained how Riku, who kept asking him about Naminé of all things, had, annoyingly, held him up.

You nearly growled. And here you'd thought Riku couldn't ruin your day anymore thoroughly. God, you hated that loser.

But at the same time... you almost found yourself missing his company, because now that he was gone... you had to face everything you'd been waiting for and dreading all of this time.

"Right, then, shall we skedaddle? I see tha' tha' ther' Council building's right ahead of us. Pretty handy they have a sign telling us right on the door! Ahyuck!" Goofy supplied.

And though you'd thought the exact same thing, when you'd seen the place that looked like bark, it was only when Goofy spoke about it like that, that you realized just how suspicious that all really was.

But then again... you must have just been being paranoid, right? Not everyone could have been out to get you.

And it was perfectly normal that people would have to know where the building was—for the dreaded Cycle, as well as other things—but as much as you tried to tell yourself that, you couldn't completely believe it.

You started heading towards the building, anyway.

And before you even knew it, you were standing right in front of it—having all ready gone up the small, curved and yellow steps—and were going through another set of double doors.

These doors, though, were black and they had a lot of flyers taped to their windows.

You gagged. Yes,  _let_  this demonic building host all kinds of cool things, like a Halloween festival, you thought dryly.

You weren't entirely sure what you'd expected when you'd envisioned the inside of this building for the past two days. Something dark and sinister, maybe. Or maybe something clinical and smelling of medical supplies, like a hospital, but...

What it really looked like to you inside was a bank. There were many tall cubicles lining all areas of the room, and behind each one was someone doing their job.

Great. How were you supposed to find Kairi in all of this? You doubted that she was just asleep at someone's feet here, or anything like that.

Maybe... maybe Naminé could sense her presence somewhere? You were just about to ask her that in whispers, but all ready the three of you were being asked why you had come: by a very no-nonsense, stern voice, that made you think of a judge or someone similar.

The guy behind the towering, gray desk even seemed to look like someone judicial, what with his crinkled face, gray beard, and squinty eyes. You almost gulped.

Fortunately, though, Goofy had the situation well in control, for it was that very moment that he asked for Mickey.

And... much easier than you'd thought it would happen in that moment, the door right behind the judge person opened up, and with an escort leading the way, the three of you began walking down a dimly lit hall, with dark blue carpet on the ground, and white stars stitched into it.

Your breath caught in your throat: this was exactly the color you'd seen in your dream with Kairi.

She was somewhere in one of the rooms leading off of this hall, wasn't she? The question was where, though.

The other question, of course, was how the hell you were supposed to ditch your escort, you pondered, as you subconsciously crossed your arms over your chest, as you continued walking and eying the rooms all around you.

Finally, stopping at the fifth, brown door to your right, the lady pushed the door open by simply twisting its black doorknob.

And there, standing right in front of you... was the shortest man you'd ever met in your life. Even shorter than the balding Donald had been.

Mickey... this must have been him, you thought. He was the only one in the room, for one thing, and Goofy's face had positively lit up, when he saw the short, wavy haired brunette... who seemed to have hair problems like you did, if the clumps of hair rising up on either side of his head were anything to go by.

He seemed like a good person. He had light, warm eyes, a kind smile, and even the sort of button nose you'd used to imagine Santa Claus with.

And the black cloak he was wearing—like all Council members were forced to—didn't seem to suit him at all.

But what really gave you confidence about the matter at hand, was that Mickey's floor—littered with a ton of copy paper packages, and a small laptop atop it—was sea-green. And not at all like the blue you'd seen in your dream, or the hall preceding this very room.

Good, that meant that Mickey wasn't the reason for Kairi's disappearance, and that she wasn't in his room; you didn't know what you would have done if that hadn't been true.

"Goofy?!" Mickey asked in a shocked tone, as his eyes seemed to practically bulge out of his head.

With a question that you missed (in a cute voice, that wasn't unlike Goofy's own nice drawl, in some ways, you noticed), Mickey seemed to be resisting the urge to come forward and hug his friend, as he eyed you and Naminé curiously.

And it was only then, you realized with a start, that Mickey must have come from Destiny Islands. He  _was_  at the Destiny Islands' temporary Council building, after all.

And maybe... maybe that was even part of the reason that Goofy had moved to the Isl—

"Welp, it's really good to see you, pal! I've missed ya! But what do I owe the visit? I get that maybe this isn't a social call?" the small man, perhaps just a bit younger than Goofy, asked.

"No it isn't," Goofy assured his "pal" with a nod of his head.

Naminé looked at you with cautious eyes, then, and you couldn't figure out why, until-

"This young man her', my friend, Sora, thin's that the Council mighta kidnapped a friend of his, and maybe even some othe' people. Ya woldn' happen to know anything about it, would ya?"

Then, and only then, did you end up understanding why Naminé had exerted caution, but only when it was too late to do anything about it.

In all the times you'd imagined this scenario playing out in your head, you'd never thought for a moment that anyone would spill the beans like this, but here you were: with your situation ruined.

You were about to run and make a break for it, or try to cover it up—or hell, start yelling at Goofy, even; that seemed like a good and non-stressful thing to do—when Mickey ended up doing the last thing you would have ever expected from him.

Running a hand over his chin—seemingly in thought—and then raising his head to meet your eyes with kind, understanding ones, Mickey pulled out a piece of paper and began writing on it.

Surprisingly, he handed it to you, and you nearly fainted by what you saw. "Room probably bugged," it said. "We'll have to discuss this further on paper. But I've suspected foul play like this for a while, and have been trying to keep my eyes and ears peeled to stop it. I think if anyone knows anything—or might be involved-it's the girl down at the last door on this side of the hall. I can take you there if you wish, or—

You didn't read the rest of the paper. And you didn't even give Naminé and Goofy the chance to finish looking at it over your shoulder.

Instead, you dropped it with shaking hands, and began running towards the specified room, before you could stop yourself or rethink the idea.

Surprisingly the door was open, and you opened it with such force that you almost broke it off its hinges.

And while usually you would have been glad that it had been unlocked, as you didn't want to create a scene, you realized that there were much bigger things to worry about, when you got a good look at your surroundings, and screamed.

It wasn't the interior of the room that scared you. Sure, it was large and spacious—with high ceilings, and a room as long as the eye could see; perfect for keeping hostages, you thought—but that wasn't what was bothering you.

Rather, it was what was resting right beneath that ceiling.

In a large cluster, seeming to resemble a semi-circle, was the dark, water creatures that Naminé and Kairi both had warned you about. Thousands and thousands of them, all most likely ready to destroy, even without their master, if the light fixture—taking the place of lightning—they were leaning against was any indication.

How— how could they exist without their master, though?! Naminé's magic always disappeared when she wasn't around it anymore, to give it power—and she was a powerful pureblood, even!—so how?

It was about this time that you would have died, as the light fixture right above you seemed to erupt into a million, tiny jagged pieces—each one flaming like the burning bush must have, as they began hurtling towards you.

Yes, you knew that in other circumstances, you would have died here, as you were too in shock to even move or mutter a noise of protest.

But somehow, and for whatever reason, Riku of all people—you could see it was him, as he moved you away, and his silver hair blew this way and that—had opted to save you.

He hissed into your ear all the while, that he'd  _told_  you you should have come up with a better plan, as apparently he'd had inside information on this. And if you'd just  _talked_ to him-

Normally, you might have been very happy about having narrowly evaded death, but not now.

Not now when Goofy, Naminé, and Mickey were finally catching up to you, to become food for the Remnants, that had now come alive and were flying towards them.

Damnit! Why hadn't Naminé magicked your weapon, so that you could call it to you whenever you needed it, and not have to rely on running to her to retrieve it?!

And also… you were terrified to know where Kairi was in all of this.

Just as Naminé looked at the area around her with wide eyes, you maneuvered to hold your blunt, L-shaped blade in the best way that you could: waiting for the first strike.

And you realized that for all that she'd been preparing you about the idea of Remnants, she'd thought the whole thing preposterous, too. And now…

Now she seemed to be panicking, and didn't know what to do.

And you didn't even have time to worry about that right now.

Instead, you had to get ready to defend everyone and charge for Kairi, wherever she was, at a moment's notice.

And Riku, seeming to be on the same page with you for the first time in a number of years, pointed to a door on the right of the room—where the area seemed to be more blue than white.

Kairi probably was over there, wasn't she? If your dream was anything to go by, anyway, and knowing what you did about Kairi's powers, you knew that it was.

"Riku," you began to mutter: hating instantly what you were starting to plan right as it was happening, but... what else could you do?

"I need you to go and find Kairi for me. I'm the only one who can fight these things off, so-"

"Hey. Who goes there? This room is closed off as of now, please gather your things and leave."

Shocked, despite yourself, you looked up and saw that there was another girl in the center of the room...

How was it- how was it that you hadn't noticed her before? Granted, you'd been focused on other things, and the white, small desk in the room had blended in well with the rest of it, but still.

What was even weirder to you, however, was that the girl didn't even seem to notice the creatures resting right above her, as she came over to regard your friends and you with a stern expression.

Maybe... maybe she was just dense, or had no knowledge of magical things?

No. That wasn't it at all, was it? You realized, as you rolled on the floor to dodge some of the Remnants that had meant to glide up your right arm.

Changing your blade into your left hand, you tried to bat them the creatures, that were clawing at your neck like bats, away.

Fortunately, you succeeded in getting some of them and their sharp wings away, but you hadn't destroyed them at all. Rather, they'd just moved to join the others again.

And worse than all of that, was that you'd now exhausted yourself in front of the woman who was currently trying to throw you out. The woman who was…

Who... who was Riku's sister.

And here you'd thought nothing could faze you anymore.

Aqua... You'd only ever met her a few times when you were younger, and her blue hair had been unmistakably longer back then, but this was most certainly here.

She had the same bluish eyes as Riku did; as well as the same pointed features, and the same sort of jagged locks at the end of their hair.

Her eyes, though... her eyes were so much more kinder than Riku's could have ever hoped to be.

But... something seemed to be obscuring them. Or rather... they seemed to be obscuring Aqua's view of the world around her. The Remnants were practically on her now, and she was none the wiser at all.

Finally, Aqua's eyes locked on Riku: her brother that must have been coming here to save her all along. And as her eyes dotted with confusion, you decided that that was all the chance you needed.

"Naminé!" you said in a more urgent voice than you'd ever thought you were capable of, as you turned to the girl who was still fretting. "Can you— can you go and look for Kairi? You're the only one—besides Riku and me, anyway—who knows what she looks like. I have to fight off all these things, and Riku needs to distract his sister, and-

"What?" you trailed off, as you turned towards Goofy, who had turned you around so you could look more thoroughly at Naminé. Oh, god. She really was panicking, wasn't she?

How had you— how had you not noticed before? She looked terrified, and in that, far more younger than you'd ever seen her.

She sat cross-legged on the floor, with her hands covering her ears, and her eyes wide and tearful. She also kept clenching and unclenching a ball of flames in her hand, but at this rate, it looked like she was marring herself much more than she was the enemy.

"That's what I've been trying to explain to you, Sora," said Riku, as he quickly darted to where his sister was, and touched the pressure point on the back of her neck to knock her out.

"Aqua... Aqua's been brainwashed or something, and is now a pawn of the Council. I only found out recently, or I would have been more forthcoming in helping you with Kairi. But... there's something wrong with her. She seems to have power coming off of her in waves, like Naminé does, but not in the same way."

No it wasn't, and for many reasons, you found. Not only was it supposed to be impossible for people to have powers anymore, but if Aqua hadn't been born with them... there was no way she should have gotten them now.

Unless- unless her soul had been messed with, like Xion's had been.

"I sense—" Riku continued on, just as Mickey hurried off in the direction you'd been thinking about going just a moment ago: your eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Well, I don't know how I'm sure of it exactly; none of this makes sense at all, but Aqua's the one who'd been holding those things up in the air, and keeping them off of us. But now that she's unconscious, though-"

As luck would have it, Riku didn't have the chance to finish his sentence. Instead, just as he'd begun to speak, the Remnants came sweeping down: making a B line for everyone's heads.

You were swinging at the assailants blindly, then: only knowledgeable of the fact that if you stopped trying to face them, something terrible was going to happen.

In fact, it was all that  _Riku_  could do, it seemed, to hover over his broken sister on the ground, and try and shield her from the constant current of darkness that passed over them.

There seemed to be spaces of red and yellow between some of them, though, that hinted that some of them were staying away from Aqua, whereas they were a swarm above everyone else.

You didn't dwell on it, though: if Aqua was their master, maybe they were going easier on her or something.

In any case, you had other things to worry about... Like how your T-shirt was being torn to shreds, as the enemy spun around you in a constant back and forth motion, so that they could saw at your clothes, and leave nothing but ugly, long/red gashes in their wake.

Torn between screaming and crying (in the end, you did neither and just laughed out hysterically), you tried to jump into the air—off of the desk that Aqua had been using, no less—so that you could maybe get at all of them in a spinning motion, but in the end it was no good.

You hadn't been counting on them swooping in and grabbing Naminé out of Goofy's arms. Hell, you weren't counting on them being corporeal at all!

With an enraged growl, you found yourself running across the desk—faster than you had thought you could move, even—and sending papers scattering everywhere.

Your first thought was to get Naminé away from the Remnants: no matter the cost, but then they did something far too clever: they went through the passageway that Mickey had just gone through, and towards him and Kairi both.

Torn, you stood there: trying to decide if you should save Naminé or Mickey—and most importantly, the girl who meant more to you than anything: Kairi.

Naminé all ready looked pretty badly hurt, you thought. She'd been ashen and in a cold sweat before all of this, and the Remnants seemed to be trying to cut at her now, like they had you.

And, of course, it was that moment that Naminé woke up—her screams tearing through the night, the way that sand paper screeched when you moved it against the grain, and you made your choice.

Biting into your lip so thoroughly that blood ran down your chin, and clenching your hands together so tightly that you knew they must have been marred by loud, red, angry marks, you remembered the dream that you'd had with Kairi, and you broke your blade off into a smaller version of itself: small like the stick had been when you'd been racing it against the star.

And jumping high into the air, and where the majority of the Remnants existed, you expected to die right then and there, in a flash of glory.

You weren't even sure this would do anything, as you soared through them like a bird in the clouds, and spun your instrument like Naminé had told you to: trying desperately to purify the water.

But to your utter shock and astonishment, just as the Remnants had begun tearing at your throat with all they could—and yes, this time you did sob—there was a large explosion of light, and before you knew it, most of the Remnants were disappearing and you were hurtling down towards the ground.

Consciousness was starting to disappear from you, but somewhere along the way, you realized that you'd landed on Goofy's shield—a shield that was only slightly stained with Remnant ichor.

And unfortunately for you, just when you thought you'd take a quick rest—though you knew distantly, that you'd lost a lot of blood, and that if you closed your eyes, you might never open them again—or maybe go check on Naminé, you noticed that there were still some Remnants alive and well, and they were all heading for Kairi.

You distantly heard someone—maybe everyone—calling after you, as you jumped down from the shield, and raced out into the hall—nearly passing out then and there.

And maybe... maybe it was you were just delirious after having lost so much blood, but why did it seem as though the hall was tilted on its side, and covered in an eerie, green light?

That couldn't be right, could it? Your dream... Kairi was meant to be in a blue area. Everything you knew and had seen had hinted at that fact, so you were most likely wasting your time going through this green area, but something kept you striding forward, anyway.

You kept going straight, until finally, the hall stopped into one, small, square room.

It was a completely odd place, you thought. You'd never seen a room come off of a hall like this. There was no door to it or anything—and neither were there any other rooms surrounding it—it just was.

It looked more like a child's play house than anything else, and it was in this room that you finally found Kairi.

And then, you were crawling to her before you could even remember falling to the floor. Whether it was from the blood loss, shock, or what, you had no idea, but you found you couldn't have stood even if you had tried.

You were also distantly aware, as you clung to her legs like a toddler might have, that you were probably hurting her with the blade you were still holding.

No doubt the jagged edges of it were biting into her waist almost painfully, but Kairi made no sound of protest.

Instead, she patted your head clinically, and whispered sweet nothing into your ears, as you came undone: apologizing and apologizing and apologizing.

You weren't even aware that Mickey was there—looking as though he'd fought a battle himself—until he came up to you, and tipped your head back, so that he could drop some sort of healing medication down your throat. But even that wasn't as bad as what made you really notice his presence, and then never forget it again.

Looking at you with the most guilty and sad looks you'd ever seen on anyone, Mickey whispered brokenly, as he scratched behind his ears. "Sora... I know you've been through a lot, and that you must be sufferin' a lot right now, but... I have to ask ya now. The sooner I can, the more likely we can fix all this, but...

"Do ya have any idea who they woulda given Kairi's soul to, and who's they woulda given her instead?"

It was in that moment that you noticed that Kairi was wearing the blue from your nightmare, and that she did feel completely different somehow.

You'd been... you'd been too late.

Kairi's soul had gone to someone else, and the girl before you now might as well have been a complete stranger.

Kairi... Kairi was gone, and you had no one to blame but yourself, for dawdling so much.

You supposed you might have ended your life there, if not for the death grip that "Kairi" had on you, and if she hadn't taken your blade.

And when that happened, she, too, sobbed.

But you... you found you had no more tears to cry for the situation, her, yourself, or anything else.

Not now. Not ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, with that, my dear children, we conclude Part 1 of this story. Finally.
> 
> Aaaaaaand I hate to say, but I'm probably going to leave you all on this cliffhanger for a while. Rest assured that I WILL end this story eventually, but to be honest…
> 
> I'm sort of surprised I posted anything at all right now. You see, I just found out that my dad has stage four colon and liver cancer at the end of October, and to say that things have been… rough for me and my family right now would be a massive under statement. I've mostly just been spending time with my dad, and trying to figure out how we're going to combat this thing, you know?
> 
> And if any of you could find it in you to pray for my dad, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks:)
> 
> Also, I don't know if anyone noticed, but I realized that I don't like how I was formatting my stories before this, so I tried to change it up a bit here. And hopefully for the better. And hopefully it's made things a bit clearer for you all? Be sure to tell me what you think about it in a review…
> 
> …I feel like there are so many things I've been meaning to point out to you guys about this story, but I either keep forgetting to, or don't have the time to. Timing really has been working against this story from the beginning. Sorry.
> 
> Oh, and Princess-Xion, I wrote a story for you (since you've been so good and kind to me about everything), and will post it soon. I actually meant to post it today, but somehow ended up doing this instead. Oops.
> 
> Anyway… review, please. And thanks to everyone who's made it this far. Hope you're enjoying the story…
> 
> Even if I do suck for leaving you all at this part.
> 
> But yay for Kairi finally being back, and the SoKai part of this story FINALLY getting a chance to start:D
> 
> I really wish I hadn't have had to have Kairi gone for so long, but it was necessary for the plot.
> 
> But don't worry. Hopefully I'll be more than making it up to you SoKai lovelies starting now:)
> 
> Oh! And if anyone's wondering, I imagine the Remnants being like the demons you see at the end of The Mortal Instruments movie. Actually, their base form is kind of like those black tendrils you see at the start of Cloud's fight against Sephiroth in Advent Children, but they can shape shift into things LIKE the demons, and bats and stuff. They actually remind me a bit of the Shades from the game, NIER, actually…
> 
> Also, I find it absolutely hilarious, that I'm posting this chapter, about an expanded Land of Departure, when a KHIII trailer JUST revealed Cable Town(?), that may or may not be a part of the LoD we haven't seen before. OMG. WHAT are the chances of that?! LOL. I wrote this back in SEPTEMBER, before we had any idea about any of this! I must be on the same wavelength as Nomura again or something. Yay to that! Nomura is my life hero:D
> 
> -Shanna


	6. Chapter Six: Drowning in You

You would have liked to say that things got simpler after that: that you all simply gathered around Naminé, allowed her to send you home, and never looked back on the current nightmare, but that would have been a lie.

For one thing, as Riku had discovered—when you went back to the other room and talked to him—there had been other people being held captive, too. So to that end, there was no other choice but to take all of them with you.

You... you didn't wish what had happened between you on Kairi on anyone. But it... it still complicated things.

Naminé couldn't teleport that many people at once, so that meant everyone needed to go in intervals, and your gang would go last—to make sure you could trust all these people, and that they wouldn't try to kill Naminé when her guard was down.

But that brought on even  _more_  issues, as you knew for sure that some official had to have noticed the disruption—or if not that, the flames that had come to run through the room like a snake might have, after you'd purified the water.

And no matter what anyone did, the flames seemed to stay in place. They weren't getting any larger or hurting anyone, but they didn't disperse, either.

Personally, you hated it. It was just another sign of how you'd messed up. Purified water... well, it wasn't supposed to look like that!

It hadn't appeared that way your dream, or when Naminé had explained it to you, so this was just more proof that you couldn't do anything right, as far as you were concerned.

Not in being a protector, or in being a soldier.

"Sora..." Kairi said, looking at you with sweet, concerned eyes, as she came over to you to put a hand on your arm—a touch that immediately made you flinch away from her, because you knew the old Kairi—your Kairi—would have been yelling at you right now.

This Kai... this one was just far too calm. She was still the same person, though, as Naminé had explained. She held the same memories, the same desires, and the people that she loved all in her heart... It was just that people with switched souls felt about things differently.

And to that end, you didn't even know what to do. Part of you wanted to grab onto Kairi and never let her go again, for she was still the girl you'd known for so many years—and you'd been so,  _so_  worried about her—but at the same time... you didn't know if you could bear it:

Not seeing Kairi with the type of fire you'd sensed in her from the beginning—even when she'd been beaten up on the playground, way back when—was something that almost seemed impossible. But here it was: happening all the same.

Did she— did she even still love you?

With what you'd gathered from Naminé, and the way that the redhead seemed to be treating you now, you guessed that the answer was "no".

And that was the real kicker to all of this. Even if she was a little bit different, you knew without a doubt that you could find a way to love this new version of Kairi. But knowing that she didn't love you-not the way she used to, and maybe even never could do so again...

You couldn't imagine how you could be around that, and not die a little bit inside everyday.

Kairi had been the only person you'd ever truly loved and trusted. You'd counted on her more than anyone, and now, in the end, she had left you, too. She had broken her promises.

"Sora," Kairi said again, bringing you back to reality in only the way that she could, as she stepped back from you some, sensing your previous hesitation. "You need to rest. More than that, you need to let Naminé—or even me—heal you. You're going to faint any second now if you keep on like this, and Remnants are poisonous. You could have toxin in your bloodstream this very moment. Please."

And the last word was a plead: a pled she uttered as she looked at you and held back tears.

And normally that would have been enough to bend you to Kairi's will at once, but this other Kairi...

She wasn't as demanding as the other one had been, so you held your ground, and found yourself saying what you'd earlier promised yourself that you wouldn't. "I want to feel the pain, Kairi. It helps me deal with the emotional stuff. It distracts me from it, so please... Go focus on all the other people who need you. Or Riku. I know he's probably been worried sick about you."

 _But not like I've been. In fact, he didn't even believe me about any of this stuff at first_ , you thought bitterly.

Nodding her head self-consciously, Kairi went to do exactly what you'd bade her to. And as you saw them together, you had to cringe at how comfortable and social the two of them seemed with each other. They hugged so, so easily... And-

And would he end up being Kairi's new soul mate?, you wondered, mortified, as you gazed at the two of them.

Somehow, it wouldn't have even surprised you.

You wished... you wished that you had someone to talk to. But you most certainly couldn't talk to Kairi at the moment—or Riku, for that matter.

Goofy and Mickey, you noticed, seemed to be trying to help all the lost souls out, before they went to gather around a tired looking Naminé for her to send everyone back to their homes.

And Aqua... Aqua was still knocked out cold. Not that you would have wanted to talk to her, anyway. But still, hearing the reassuring voice of someone would have been nice.

Heck, at this point, you would have even settled for your parents'.

And proving that fate really did have a sense of humor, it was at that exact moment that your phone began ringing. You fished through your pockets feeling numb, until you had the device in hand, fumbled it open, and then answered in a dead tone: "Hello?"

"Sora," said the somewhat deep—and yet, whiny—unmistakable voice of Roxas. "I just heard from Xion that your friend Kairi's missing. I wish you would have come to me about this. Is there anything I can do to help? Or-"

 _You're too late, Roxas_! You wanted to yell into the speaker.  _We're all too late! And maybe if your girlfriend hadn't been a bitch about me mentioning Naminé—though now I suppose I get why—then maybe she would have told you about sooner_.

But instead of doing that, you answered in the most fake tone you'd ever heard from yourself, "Uhh... thanks. But- but I think we might have it taken care of. For the most part, anyway. Was there anything else you needed?" It wasn't that you thought Roxas was heartless  _per se_ , but you knew how hard it was for Roxas to get a moment to himself: errand boys were always worn ragged, after all.

Roxas scoffed at your question, and at that moment—when Naminé waved for you to come over, so that you could finally be sent back home—you thought you heard Roxas turn the TV on in the background.

Or maybe it had all ready been on, because much more soon than you'd thought possible—and rather calmly, too—Roxas defined with only a few words what you'd guessed your next series of problems would be. "You know- you know that you're a wanted criminal now, right Sora? You and everyone you brought with you are. The news is saying that you broke into the substitute Council building for Destiny Islands, and that you vandalized stuff, set fires, stole, and just caused a whole lot of commotion—honestly, Sora, just what the hell were you thinking?!"

 _I was thinking that I had to save Kairi, and the other people they kidnapped, before it was too late_!  _And us stealing anything is absolute bullshit: we only freed the people that_ they'd _all ready stolen_.

"Look, Roxas, I gotta go."

And you really did, because Naminé practically had you swimming in a green vortex again, and you had no idea what talking on the phone during one such situation would do.

"And I'm... I'm sorry if this causes you any trouble, okay? And thank you for your thoughts about Kairi. Goodbye."

Kairi… in maybe hearing you say her name, or still being your best friend, despite everything, was quick to break free of the other people she'd been holding hands with in the teleport, so that she wouldn't get lost, and came over and held your hand—resting her head on your shoulder and breathing deep breaths, to signify what you should have been doing yourself.

And even though you knew this was just going to make you hurt more in the future, you found yourself holding onto her hand and resting your head atop hers, too.

For just a moment, you were going to pretend that everything was right: that you'd succeeded in your task and that this was the Kairi that you'd always loved, who was about to agree to marry you, so long as you provided her with the cake that you'd earlier thought of.

And in the end, you realized you were so much happier pretending.

And then Goofy's house ended up rising all around you—something you'd only just seen that very day: this awful day where everything had gone to hell—proving that pretending was all you were ever going to get.

...

You all ended up resting at Goofy's house for the next few days. You didn't know why you were there exactly, or how and what it would consist of (though you had your guesses), and you were just too tired physically, mentally, and emotionally to even ask.

In fact, you were too exhausted to do  _anything_ , but finally get some long, needed rest.

And thankfully, during that time, you slept dreamlessly. There were no more dreams of Kairi to either make you feel better or haunt you even moreso, and you found that you were just fine with that.

Three days later when you woke up, feeling as though your head had only just hit the pillow, you saw that there were a lot of food wrappers in the trash can beside you. Apparently someone had been visiting you.

That was nice, at least, and so much better than the last, horrible conversation that you'd had with Roxas.

Looking around the tan room more thoroughly, you noticed that there was a desk right to your left, where a computer sat over a mat with a puzzle print on it. There was even a plate of food there.

Not your favorite kinds—who liked broccoli soup, right? You'd prefer cabbage over it any day—but you were appreciative of it (and the bread, crackers, and chocolate bar that came with it) all the same.

You hadn't stopped to realize just how famished you'd been. And now that you were finally getting the chance to rest and eat some, you felt ready to take on the world.

Which, unfortunately, was probably exactly what you were going to end up doing. You thought about turning the computer on and looking up the gory details about you—you even found yourself wondering what your parents must have been thinking—but then quickly thought better of it.

Taking one last swing of the fruit punch that someone had left for you—and being sure to throw the trash away, as well as to bring your dirty dishes with you—you headed out of the room—where there was, thankfully, nothing blue in sight—and then down the red and plaid carpeted stairs to your left.

Since you'd been half-dead when you'd first come to this place, you hadn't had the chance to appreciate just how... eccentric Goofy's house was.

Taking up most of the rustic, wooded front of the house, was a giant bouncy house. And oddly enough… that was actually where most of your friends were located at; and they waved for you to come on in the moment they spotted you.

Stepping through the small, igloo shaped space that led into the trampoline—an entrance you nearly fell right through: apparently you weren't as healed as you'd thought you were—you asked the first thing you could think of: "Where's Aqua?"

Apparently that had been the wrong thing to ask. Goofy and Kairi both had downward gazes painted onto their faces, whereas Riku looked fiercely protective, and Naminé... Well, Naminé looked positively livid—something you'd never noticed of her before, really.

Trying again, you asked, "Where's Mickey?"

That seemed to go over better. Turning his head this way and that, as if he expected an intruder, or bugs to be in his very own house—and who knew? Maybe there were—Goofy answered in a conspiringly way, "He wen' back to the office. He's tryin' to do damage control fer us. He's the least likely to have been seen, af'er all."

That made sense, you thought. You weren't optimistic about things going your way, of course—for the Council had steeped itself into some pretty heavy darkness here—but it was still nice to know that someone had their head in the game.

"We need to- we need to figure out what we're going to do next," you said rather earnestly—surprising yourself, even, as you shifted slightly on the trampoline, and caused it to move the slightest bit for your efforts. "I mean, as much as I'd really like to go home and maybe go for the insanity plea, I guess, that's really not an option anymore, is it? There are other people who have lost their souls like Naminé and Xion did."

You simply couldn't admit that the same thing had happened to Kairi, and the redhead was quick to notice this, as she shrunk down beside Riku. You hated yourself thoroughly for that, but you'd worry about it later.

"We should find those people, at the very least, and tell them they're not alone. Especially since Naminé doesn't think everyone's souls were actually switched around. We need to investigate this stuff, if we're going to find a way to stop it. But more than that...

"We need to find a way to stop the Council completely. I still can't believe someone was able to create Remnants that way. We should-"

"We should destroy Aqua," came the surprising soft and dark voice of someone behind you that you'd come to know well.

If you'd expected anyone to have murderous tendencies about all of this besides yourself, you would have thought for sure that it would have been Riku. Not against his own sister, of course, but…

You'd never even  _dreamed_  that Naminé would act in such a way!

Belatedly, you remembered the look she'd worn on her face when you'd first brought up the topic of the bluenette, and you couldn't help gulping. An enraged Naminé wasn't exactly something you wanted to see.

"She's much too powerful for her own good," the blonde girl continued on, unperturbed. "More powerful than anyone has the right to be, and you can bet that she's the main reason that what happened to Kairi did. So we either need to interrogate her and find where her true allegiances lie, or we need to kill her. Plain and simple."

As if demonstrating how "plain and simple" it was, Naminé shrugged. Something that Riku was none too happy about.

And to be honest... you didn't exactly like the idea, either. It wasn't that you didn't get the witch's reasoning for it. In fact, you probably understood it too well, but... There was something about Aqua that made you think that she was an innocent in all of this.

Sure, it might have been because you'd known her briefly before. But as it happened, you'd hated her brother, Riku, for so long, that you didn't think that was it. You wouldn't have wanted to spare his sister unless it was necessary before, but now...

Now you were a different person who knew better: a different person who didn't like how Naminé was using her fear of such power—her fear of the Remnants that Aqua had controlled—to make her into someone you knew she wasn't.

"No. Absolutely not, Naminé!" Kairi argued much more thoroughly than you would have thought her able to. Wasn't the whole point of the Cycle: to make the denizens of the world tamer?

But then again... Naminé, who had had the same "surgery" as Kairi had, was absolutely seething with homicidal rage right now.

You found your heart alighting at Kairi's words—and feeling love, of all things, again, despite your best efforts to squash it.

"You weren't around her for the past three weeks, Nami, but I was. I was! Aqua... Aqua is being controlled. None of this is her fault, and to hurt her would be just as evil as anything they did to us. And I won't allow that. After all that I've suffered through the last three weeks... I know if I see one more awful thing, I'll break, so please, cousin… don't do this."

Naminé didn't consent easily, you saw. In fact, she seemed to want to protest further—that destroying a puppet was  _exactly_  the sort of thing the team should have been doing to get rid of all the Remnants, maybe.

But instead of pushing the point further, she simply looked at Kairi with contrite eyes, and leaned her head on her cousin's shoulder as she wrapped an arm around the other girl's waist.

It must have been a cousin thing, you thought, as you remembered how Kairi had embraced you much the same way, when your world had been crashing down three days ago. The thought made you happy and sad, all at the same time.

"So what do we do now, then?" Riku asked, as he rocked forward in his seat, and began exerting a much more calm exterior, seeing as how Aqua was no longer the next person in line for slaughter—something you couldn't blame him for in the slightest. And damn, if that wasn't a first.

"Could we maybe try to warn everyone of what's going on? Or maybe we could barge into the Council building and eliminate all the workers? Some of us are rather powerful here, after all.

"And Naminé, if you were willing to murder my sister in cold blood like that, you must be willing to do something like this, too."

Welp, there was the darker side of Riku that you'd known was there. And though it wasn't a terribly impossible plan—even if you knew that you really didn't have enough numbers for something like that—you also knew that you couldn't allow something like that to happen, either.

Good people like Mickey, Goofy—and previously, Donald—were connected to the Council, and you couldn't even fathom destroying them. You were surprised, even, that Riku hadn't realized the same thing, when he'd just been defending his sister to his last breath. Maybe he just didn't care...

Deciding that if no one else was going to steer the conversation away from murder, that you would—well, you amended, Kairi probably would have, if she didn't look like she was fighting with her new soul at the moment. And Goofy probably would have, too, if he hadn't just gone to get tea.

"I think... while it's never too early to begin planning things, we should wait a little while before acting. And, yes. I know that gives even more time for them to create stories about us, double their defenses, or maybe even find us, but...

"We barely got out of the last situation with our lives. And I still... I still don't know how to use my powers."

Not that you exactly  _wanted_  to use them anymore, since they hadn't even helped you save Kairi, and had done something last time that you never would have expected.

But even more than that... you could still remember how the Remnants had torn at your skin like it was paper. You had no strong desire to experience anything like that ever again, but...

"We need to rest and regroup," you said, trying your best to keep the uncertainty off of your face, as you looked at each of your friends in turn—saving Kairi for last, as you still didn't know how to feel about her. "And we need to stock up supplies for living here for a while, since I assume that's what we're doing. We need to find a way to help Goofy out with expenses and chores. And maybe some of us can sneak into crowds to find out what's going on on the outside. Maybe."

"We could also look for people to join us in our fight, like this Xion that Naminé's told us about," Riku countered.

And though you tried your best to remain supportive and assure him that that was a good idea (and really it was, even if you did have some trust issues, and thought that everyone would have to be dealt with some of their own accordingly), on the inside, you were reeling at the idea of having to talk to either Roxas or Xion ever again.

Mainly Roxas, oddly enough, since he now pretty much thought of you as a terrorist.

You pressed two fingers to your temples, as you felt a headache coming on.

"As far as I understand it, I mean, Xion would also have a vendetta against the Council, if they messed with her soul, too."

She had more than a vendetta, you thought, remembering how oddly she'd reacted to hearing Naminé's name. And not for the first time, you wondered what that could have been about.

You weren't really looking forward to discovering the answer, though: you still weren't sure whether Xion was someone you should have been trusting or not, after all.

"Ignoring Riku's comments about Xion, and Sora's about being scared," you cringed at Naminé's word choice, but you couldn't exactly deny it, either—you were still shocked that she'd picked up on it so easily, though. But then again... this  _was_  Naminé you were talking about.

"I think the idea about planning and storing up supplies right now is probably a good one. And if we're all going to be staying here, and I assume we are... I'm going to have to use some of you people's energy, to keep my energy up, so we can ward off this area. I mean, if I become a tired, exhausted mage, we're all screwed."

It was about at that moment that Goofy came back into the bouncy house: carrying a tray of tea for everyone. And miraculously, he didn't even spill a single drop, as he gave a cup to everyone sitting around in the semi-circle.

As all of you thanked him at the same time, you turned your glasses up and drank—enjoying one of the small things in life that you still had access to.

That and sleep, you thought, feeling once again drowsy, as the chamomile made its way through your veins. Actually… a nap didn't sound like such a bad idea right now.

Saying just that, you quickly excused yourself from the group of rebels, and began heading back up the stairs to the room you'd been in earlier.

What you hadn't been expecting was for Kairi to quickly follow you—and to almost lean against your door seductively, as you stumbled into bed. You could not... you could not deal with this right now, and you cursed the universe for putting you in such a situation.

Didn't it know that you were trying to be a decent human being and not jump Kairi's bones, when she might not even like you anymore?

As you rolled over in bed—wishing for sleepy time to take you away from all your troubles—you found yourself wishing that maybe you'd actually be able to lucid dream this time, and have some nice dream about you and Kairi dating in another reality or something.

Unfortunately, though, that wasn't what ended up happening.

Walking over to you, and stealing your blanket away just as soon as you'd laid it over yourself, Kairi looked down at you with absolute fury.

Well, with as much fury as she could muster, anyway. And she even looked a bit repentant when she noticed your red, stuffy nose—you really felt like you were coming down with a cold.

"Sora, can I talk to you?" Kairi bellowed, as she whipped the blanket back down on your face with surprising force.

You blinked. You'd thought that she wasn't capable of such things anymore, so it was certainly nice to see her warming up again... even if it was in a bad way.

But still, even with how happy the thought of Kairi becoming snarky again made you, you couldn't help feeling perturbed. "The old Kairi wouldn't have asked," you explained to her, with a surprising anger igniting into your gut. "She just would have barged in here, and would have instantly begun relating what was on her mind—whether I wanted to hear it or not."

"What?!" Kairi hissed under her breath, as she looked at you with more hate than you'd ever thought possible—more hate than you'd ever seen her show anyone.

All ready, you were starting to second-guess what you had come to believe about her and her ability  _not_  to get angry.

But as you stood up and began prowling around her like a jungle cat—something your body seemed to be doing of its own accord—you couldn't stop yourself. All your fears, insecurities, and the terrible truths you'd heard from Naminé lately came spilling out of you, like poison from a wound. "You heard me. You're not her. At least, you're not the Kairi I know. So, please: just leave me alone. I can't deal with this right now. Maybe later, sure. But not right now. I-"

"Sora, how could you even- I don't... I'm... I'm still me, you idiot. I mean, some things are different, yes—and I feel like my own volume's been lowered or something—but… I'm still the girl who put lipstick on you when we were seven. I'm the same girl who crashed my bike into your knee just last year, because I was stubborn and wanted to prove I still knew how to do bike ride, after learning how to drive. I'm also the dedicated friend who writes down notes in her morning classes for you to look at late-"

"Kairi, do you love me?" The words came pouring out of you before you could take them back. And though your first thought was that you'd just ruined everything by saying this, you'd always known that you would have to get to the heart of things sooner or later.

Kairi stared at you for a moment at that. And finally, looking into your eyes with ones that had used to say so much, but were now vacant, she said what you'd been expecting but hoping against, all the same. "I could. I really could, Sora. Just let me... let me get accustomed to things before you fly off the handle and give up on things completely. Please?"

 _But isn't that- isn't that just giving both of us false hope that might amount to nothing?_  You knew you wanted to say, but for whatever reason didn't.

Instead, you patted the side of the bed where you hadn't been momentarily sprawled out a moment earlier, and allowed Kairi to come sit down beside you: something that you were quick to regret, as her smell of roses and rain was all ready bringing you to the brink of insanity—you had never wished more strongly that she'd go back to being the covered in dirt tomboy that you'd used to love-hate.

"I know... I know you've been through a lot, Kai, so I'm going to try to be whatever you need me to be, for your sake, but...I can't shake the feeling that you're using me as a distraction from your main problem. You haven't, after all, told me anything about what it was like for you being kidnapped."

And it was only when you heard yourself speaking the words that you knew they were true. Kairi... she was trying to push back everything that had happened to her in fear of it, and you knew you could hardly blame this more timid Kairi for that, but...

Weren't you a prime example of what could happen to someone, if they kept things bottled up inside? In that case, Kairi really did need to face things before it was too late, huh?

"I don't-" she said, drawing her knees up under her chest and burying her head there. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm not saying never," she amended carefully, seeing the guarded look on your face. "But right now... I just can't. It was awful, Sora. The actual kidnapping—and even what they did to me: though it wakes me up at night screaming now, as I remember I'm not exactly  _me_  anymore, I… I could have dealt with all that.

"But... in the few times that they  _weren't_  keeping me sedated—which, yes, was the worst part, because who knows what they could have been doing to me all that time I was unconscious—the only light I had in all of it was Aqua.

"Aqua, who made sure they fed me well. Aqua, who made sure they didn't poke and prod me too much. Aqua, who did everything she could to make my surgery less painful, when I'd all ready been hurt by the Remnants in getting there."

"Kairi!" You shouted her name as if it were the last life preserver pulling you up and out of the ocean.

Shaking her shoulders desperately, as you didn't like the vacant look that had come into her eyes, you tried your best to calm her.

(Meanwhile, your mind was positively reeling: understanding why Kairi now saw Aqua in such high regards, and just how it was that your fiery redhead had gotten kidnapped. You'd always suspected it was the Remnants—something that most people could only swat away, while you yourself were supposed to destroy them, but having Kairi confirm for you that they'd somehow gotten into her house to nab her was something else entirely.

(Once again, you cursed yourself for leaving her like you had that day. And you even regretted dismissing Riku's previous dark idea so easily. They needed to  _pay_  for what all they'd put Kairi through: things that would haunt her for the rest of her life, that she'd probably never fully recover from.)

"I thought," you said, as you looked into her eyes beseechingly—looking for any sign of the girl you'd used to know. Hell, even the girl you were just getting to now now. "I thought you said you didn't want to talk about this, and you don't. I'm sorry for asking. But please, come back to me, honey. Please."

That seemed to do the trick. Proving that even though she might not love you anymore, she still probably saw you as her best friend, Kairi came out of her would-be nightmare as if she'd been in a trance.

Then hugging your side tightly, she said, "I- I apologize for scaring you like that, Sora. I won't do it again, I promise. Maybe- maybe I'll just go talk to Naminé about this all, since she's been through it herself. That sounds like it might be a good idea for both of us."

How you  _hated_  how methodical and uncomfortable Kairi sounded in saying that. Whatever else had changed between the two of you, you'd always shared things together, and you saw no reason why your dynamic of friendship should change now.

So pressing your forehead against hers, and whispering with your lips almost against her own, you spoke to her in a way that you hadn't since you were both children.

"Iri," you said, as you had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen at that old nickname, before she smiled. "You're my best friend. And best friends tell each other whatever they want to, without the risk of anyone else getting wind of it: cross my heart and hope to die. Don't feel bad about coming to me with any of this, okay? I'd much rather it be this way, if you want it to be, too, I mean."

Finally, Kairi must have found some much needed hope and light within the darkness she had been in. For as she quickly stretched, she curled up against you even more, before yawning: "Yes, I'd like that, Sora. You're my best friend. Always." And then, the girl promptly fell asleep.

And you... you held onto this one moment of hope, that maybe things could work out for you somehow. And if nothing else, you'd always have your best friend: which was something you wouldn't have traded for the world.

And so you, too, drifted off alongside the girl you still loved: thoughts of why the Cycle would act to put souls of other people into another—when those people had once been vibrant, and if the government really wanted to make everyone sheep like, shouldn't they have been making man made souls or something?—far from your mind.

...

The next day (or so you assumed, since your sense of time had been sort of thrown out the window lately, and it was hard to measure the sun's rays in this room), you found that Kairi was still sawing logs beside you.

Quite literally, in fact, as she was snoring rather cutely and had even gotten some droll atop some of Goofy's sheets (something your promised yourself that you would see to washing later), but still...

Even with all that, and how uncomfortable you'd been the night before, as Kairi had been holding you in a death grip, you found you couldn't blame her for anything at all.

Rather, you were so very happy that after everything she'd gone through, she was finally getting some well-deserved sleep.

Dropping a kiss to her forehead before quietly exiting the room, you thought that maybe you ought to seek out Naminé and ask her to come talk to Kairi (or maybe you'd even ask her why you'd caused an explosion instead of creating ice when you tried to purify the water last), but that plan was abruptly put on halt, when you saw Aqua standing at the end of the stairs, just to the left of your temporary bedroom.

Idly, you wondered if Naminé knew that Aqua was now up and about, but knowing what kind of blood shed she might bring about if she did know, you decided to keep it to yourself.

"Aqua, hey," you whispered, so as not to wake Kairi up, as you quickly waved at the girl and headed over to her—all the while wondering just what the heck you were doing. "Do you remember me? I'm Sora. I came to your house for Riku a few times when I was younger.

"Anyway... how are you feeling? You certainly look better."

Actually, that wasn't the case at all. Instead, the tall girl looked so decidedly skinny, that you were almost surprised she didn't just blow away with the wind.

Had they not-had they not been feeding her all the time she'd been being controlled?! And here you'd thought that the Council couldn't get any sicker.

But at least... if nothing else, Aqua didn't look like she was being hypnotized anymore—something she seemed very grateful, if not a little bit dazed, for.

"Sora..." she said slowly, as she turned to face you and kept her voice low. Though she wasn't exactly whispering, she wasn't trying to create a scene, either. And for that reason alone, you thought that maybe Naminé had all ready confronted her.

Promising yourself that you'd have a few words to the witch about her treatment of this poor victim later, you turned your full, undivided attention onto Aqua.

"Yes.. I remember you. You're standing taller than I remember—figuratively and literally, I think—but there's no doubt you're the little tyke that was Riku's first friend. What can I do for you?"

At the sudden mention of Riku and how you'd been his first friend—something you hadn't expected and you didn't know you believed or not—your first instinct, from years of wondering about it all, was to ask Aqua if Riku had been meaning to write a book about you to make money off of your weirdness and to belittle you (as you'd always thought that had been his plan) or perhaps had it been for another reason.

But instead of that, you asked the azure haired girl as kindly as you'd ever talked to anyone: "I know- I know that you've been through hell, Aqua, and I have no wish to make you relive it now or keep you from resting or anything like that, but... war is beginning, I'm afraid. So if there's anything you remember about the person who did this to you—anything at all—it would be a great help."

At once, you had the misfortune of seeing a distant, removed look come over Aqua's features, as she no doubt took your words to be lies, and thought you were just like everyone else: trying to find a way to use her no matter what it cost her.

And as this happened, and you meanwhile decided you'd do something to make it up to her later, you found yourself wondering how you could have ever thought about treating Kairi so generically, after everything she'd been through.

God, you'd been a callous fool, hadn't you? And whether Iri came to love you again or not, you still knew you'd stay by her side no matter what. It was more than what she deserved.

"The person who was using me... he put a spell on me so that I wouldn't remember anything about him or what he looked like. He—and I only assume that it is a 'he'—even made it so I couldn't recognize the feeling I got from them in my mind, if I came across it again. The only clue I have is that they said the only reason they could use me was because I was 'similar to them'."

What the heck was "similar to them" supposed to mean? That could have meant a whole number of things! The amount of ways you could be like someone were almost endless, after all. So what did tha-

Remembering suddenly the person you'd first suspected, but had been quick to dismiss, as they came into your head, you realized that she  _did_ rather look like Aqua, and seemed to have a bit of the same temperament as her.

But even more than that... the person was using cursed water as their power. And who had hair that sort of resembled what you'd just seen, whereas Aqua had hair like the purified version of it?

Yes, Aqua and Xion were quite similar, weren't they?

And as you reeled happily and sadly at your new discovery (as you had somewhat liked the girl), you momentarily forgot that Kairi was asleep, and screamed to the high heavens—or rather, everyone in the house: momentarily forgetting that a number of them had no clue who she was—"It's Xion! The person behind all of this is Xion!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! It looks as though Sora has named a suspect! But is it really her? Is he just being loopy? Is there more to it than what he knows? Is there any basis to what he's saying? Or is Xion really as evil as she has seemed? Let me know what you think in a review, please!
> 
> And Shanna finally updates! Yay! Aaaaaand it's the first chapter that's truly had Kairi in it since the beginning! –all cheer- How was it? Did I write Kairi and SoKai well? Do you understand/sympathize what's going on with her and everything else?
> 
> Also, I want to STRESS that Kairi is not a damsel in distress in this story. She had a damsel moment, if you can even call it that, but she is NOT a damsel. She'll be kicking plenty of ass with her magic later, don't you worry.
> 
> And you really can't blame her for being blindsided by the Remnants. I mean, our many heroes last chapter just BARELY survived them. And Kairi had just come back to her house, was alone and in the dark, and was jumped from behind. I don't even think she knew the things existed at that point!
> 
> And as to why she didn't escape the facility? It's because they brought her to the place unconscious, and then they always had someone watching her and sedating her (which is how she was able to send Sora visions in they're dreams). Believe me, she TRIED to escape, but the injections and stuff kept her weak and unable to do so. Make sense?
> 
> Umm… another thing, I feel like I'm going to get a lot of hate for Naminé's character in this chapter (even though she's oddly my favorite character in this entire thing). BUT once again, this is an AU. She's not entirely her canon self here. For one thing, Naminé actually HAD a loving family and normal life for a number of years before the start of this fic, so that right there gives her more confidence than her canon self has.
> 
> But also… even though she's been trying her best to hide it so far, Naminé has a TON of resentment, anger, and bitter feelings about the evil people using their powers the way they are, the Council, and what they did to her. Completely understandable, considering what she went through.
> 
> She also feels like she has a responsibility to make sure all things magic are done right and in a good way, since she's one of the last of a strong line of magic users, and would be the most powerful person in this story's world, if people hadn't started meddling with bad things (the Remnants and soul swapping, and things like that).
> 
> And lastly, Nami has Xion's soul in this story. So that's another reason she's not one hundred percent her canon self. And without spoiling too much, I will say she DOES become more like KH's Nami eventually.
> 
> And I think that's it, folks! Drop a review for me about this important chapter, will ya? And here's hoping next chapter will come a lot sooner than this one did! Eep. ;)
> 
> Also… why do all of the characters in my stories end up traumatized and/or crazy? Yikes. I'd say I'm sorry, but I wouldn't entirely mean it, since I kinda like things like that? Oops. Apparently Shanna majorly sucks. But what can I say? I love characters being pushed to the brink of despair, so that they can develop. Yep!


	7. Chapter Seven: Outer-Under

"Sora... I don't know about this," Kairi said, as she handed you the bottle that would help your schizophrenia, and made sure you took it, all the while that she watched you with narrowed eyes.   
  
Personally, you couldn't get over how Kairi was crazily making you take crazy pills, over a large, piano floor (this proved that Goofy’s kitchen was just as outlandish as his living room, as aside from the brown and white cabinetry presented in the place, the rest of the room was completely decked out in music stuff, and a real piano for a floor), but when in Rome, you did what the Romans did, you supposed.   
  
Also... if she continued to keep playing with your fingers like she currently was, you were going to end up getting very, very distracted. Was she trying to win the argument by playing "Outer-Under" with you, like the two of you had done when you were kids, or something?   
  
"I mean," she continued--heedless to where your thoughts had taken you, and how you weren't thinking about the Xion predicament at all anymore. "Doesn't this whole thing seem a bit weird to you? I don't like it. I mean, in judging this all just by appearances alone… well, by that standard, your mother could just as easily be a culprit, for back when she had short, blonde hair and went by the nickname ‘Ashe’, remember?   
  
“And I've met Xion before, too. She's not the warmest person in the world, I guess, but she doesn't seem evil to me, either."   
  
Kairi did have a major point there, you had to concede. A point that you wanted to grab onto and hang from as if your life depended on it—as you really didn't want to suspect Xion. But at the end of the day, you were pretty sure you were right.   
  
And if nothing else, it at least begged an investigation: something you knew that the old Kairi would have been all for, as it was better to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission and all that jazz.   
  
But then again... it had also used to be Kairi that took all the risks, hadn’t it been? All the while that you’d barely lived your own life.   
  
Now, though... now you were the one who was pretty much leading a revolt, and it was _Kairi_  who was demanding that all sides be examined before you or any of your friends did anything rash: something that you actually really needed right now, if you were being honest with yourself.   
  
Somehow, in having been so gutted in losing your former Kairi... You'd failed to see that everyone gradually changes over time, and that maybe... this new Kairi was better suited for the person you were  _now_. And if that was the case, then--  
  
"I have to agree with Kairi," Naminé said—unsurprisingly, as she and Kairi were usually on the same wavelength with each other—as she pulled you away from being the love sick puppy that you were, and got you to focus back on the rest of the group. "Xion's been housing my old soul and vice versa, remember? For that reason, I have a very strong connection with her. And none of this sits right with me; if she were really up to something this heinous, I'm certain that I would feel it."  
  
Kairi nodded appreciatively at that—finally unwrapping her fingers from your own, as she begged at you with adoring eyes to see reason.   
  
Mickey also scooted closer to you—causing an E-flat to sound off from the floor for that small fact—as he put in his two-cents. "Gosh, Sora: it's really not my place to say, as I don't know much about you or your cousin-in-law, but... by some of the reasoning you provided here, Goofy and I could be just as guilty. I really think we all shoul’ just maybe think this through more."   
  
Goofy also agreed to that, and it shocked you for a moment, for you realized that—besides the obvious fact of being a boy—Goofy himself had some similar features to Xion...  
  
And, admittedly, just her physical resemblance to Aqua was much the reason for your case her, but there was more to it than that, too.  
  
Leaning forward so that you could give Mickey's hand a reassuring pat, you said with an earnest smile on your face, "It's fine, Mickey, really. I understand where you're coming from. And, when all of this is over, we really should exchange stories with each other," you finished that part off with a laugh.   
  
"But... Well, ta be honest, I don't know how to explain it right, exactly. But Xion's seemed... really off lately: especially when I talked to her about Kairi and Naminé. And if she is behind everything, and I think that she is, that would explain a lot. And she is similar to Aqua. And as Aqua said, that was the condition it took for her to be possessed like she was."   
  
At that somewhat heartless line on your part, Aqua flinched—from where she sat on the opposite side of the circle from you—and you found you could only smile at her repentantly in response. There really had been no better way to phrase that, you thought.   
  
"And since my cousin Roxas is on the Council—kind of—and he just happens to be Xion’s significant other ... she easily could have hoodwinked him into telling her secrets, and getting him to help her out and stuff."   
  
And in some ways you really hated to think that; as it turned out, you found that you actually liked Xion much more then you did Roxas, because…   
  
Even though the brunette girl could be pretty awful, she was still the one who'd been bothered to take you to the hospital, when you'd fallen unconscious that time—unlike Roxas, who had been the person standing right beside you when it had happened!  
  
"Well," Riku spoke up—and his sudden voice in the conversation was much of a shock to everyone gathered, because he was so much more of a writer then he was a speaker. "Aqua and I are all for this investigation. I mean, I assume that's what this is going to be at first: just an investigation. And if we're proven wrong, we can just try and explain everything nicely to this Xion person.   
  
“But... since she probably is the person who targeted my sister, the sooner she's dealt with, the better, in my humble opinion. So Aqua and I both agree wholeheartedly with Sora's plan, and will help him with it if we can."   
  
Okay, so you'd be lying a bit, if you said you weren't somewhat touched by your former friend's support. Of course most of it was a revenge strike on his part, but at least he wasn't calling for Xion's death right away, or anything like that. That type of kindness was more than some people were capable of, you knew.   
  
You even included yourself in that thought, for you knew what you’d probably do if you ever came in contact with all the people and Remnants that had hurt Kairi.  
  
"Since I assume you're just going to end up going about this despite what we say, Sora, what we really should be figuring out is how to best handle this situation," Naminé related, as she drew Kairi's hand into her own, in order to use some of her power to help strengthen up the wards outside.   
  
You would have protested, if you didn't think that Kairi was probably grateful to be doing something—anything—after three weeks of feeling completely hopeless and trapped.   
  
"If Xion really is the one doing this, she'll be too dangerous to confront directly—even for all of us. We barely made it out of the Council Building in tact, after all, and she'll have even more escape plans and Remnants at her own home, I would wager. She'll be more powerful, too, since she won't be using a Proxy to get at us this time."   
  
That fact definitely didn't sit well with Naminé, you could tell by the look she wore on her face, after she’d gotten done saying those things.   
  
And really... you could hardly blame her for that. If she'd been so put off by Aqua's power before—something the bluenette had only had because she'd been being a dummy for someone else—what would the source of that power be like in real life?   
  
You found yourself wondering not for the first time, that if Xion really were to blame for everything… how in the world could she be more powerful than Naminé, when by all things considered, she should have gotten the powers to begin with from Naminé.   
  
But... maybe some things were just better left unknown. You weren't even one who could easily sense power like Naminé—and apparently, Riku—could after all.  
  
"Gawrsh," Goofy murmured, as he must have once again felt the need to be your group’s host, and stood up—making jarring tunes as he did so—to dig a sandwich platter out of the refrigerator, so that everyone could pick at it, before he continued. "Could we maybe brin' this Xion lady her'? If she's Sora's cousin's girlfriend, she might jus' come willingly, and then all o’ us could set the scene, so to speak.   
  
“Back when I was a knight—when the former monarchy still had suc' a thing—we did thin's like that all the time! 'Since we didn't want to fight unless necessary."  
  
Well, that was certainly an idea, you thought. And who knew? Since Naminé had put so much power into this house, maybe you really could defeat Xion in such a way, if it came down to it.   
  
The real best place to go, of course, would have been Naminé's own mystical house, but since that was all that particular friend of yours really had, you couldn't bear the thought of her having to lose it if things went sour.   
  
You felt that way for Goofy, too, but at least he was better endowed when it came to finances then Naminé was ...   
  
However, there was still another possible big problem to face: If you did bring Xion to this place in order to demand answers from her, and she ended up being innocent, she could all too easily end up resenting what you all had done, and then opt to give your hidden location to the authorities—probably without you even knowing she had done so.  
  
But, hopefully if she were innocent, it wouldn’t come to that.  After all, if you were in her shoes, you knew you would have wanted hella justice delivered onto the person who had stolen your soul. So maybe Xion could even end up helping you, then?  
  
"I'm fine with that if everyone else is, but when that time comes... I want Aqua as far away from this house as she can get. The last thing she needs is to be near her mind raper again," Riku cut in, as he wolfed down many of the ham sandwiches that Goofy had laid on the table that rested just above you all.   
  
You raised your eyebrow at him suspiciously. The two of them wanting to leave during the coming events was highly ostentatious. What if... what if it was because  _they_  were the ones behind everything?   
  
But then again, you doubted that anyone could fake all that Aqua was going through, the poor girl. And Riku had saved your life, so maybe it would be best if you saved your paranoia for one person at a time, huh?  
  
"I want... I want to play 'Outer-Under' with Sora to decide all of this."   
  
You nearly choked on the crust you were only now just getting around to eating, as you turned to face Kairi with incredulous eyes. If the looks everyone else was giving her were any indication, they must have felt the same way. 'Outer-Under', at the heart of it, was pretty much the adult version of Thumb War, after all.   
  
Granted, it didn't have to be treated that way (and you and Kairi had played a kid version of it when you were younger and hadn’t know any better), but still...   
  
You and Kairi weren't even dating. And she'd all ready admitted that she didn't love you anymore, so what gave?   
  
"Kairi-" you were just barely able to choke out, as you blushed beet red and tried to ignore all the judging faces that were currently starting at you. "What are you-"  
  
"What?! Are you afraid you'll lose the bet?" she snapped, much like the old Kairi would have. Your lips parted into a smile, almost of their own accord. "Look, I just think that Xion's innocent and that you have no right to treat her like this. If you want to go through with your decision without testing me, I'll understand, but if you do... you're going to lose some respect points in my book, mister!"   
  
Yep. You were definitely smiling. And even though you could tell by Kairi's childish tone that you'd been playing the game just as you once had long ago, you were still completely excited about the prospect of just being able to have a nice moment with your best friend again: a kiddy moment that could only be  _had_  with a best friend.   
  
"Fine, let's go," you tried to say with an annoyed tone, and though you failed miserably in doing so.   
  
And not even wasting any time to go to your own bedroom—as the Xion issue was a hot issue and of the utmost importance, after all—you led Kairi into one of the rooms decorating the current floor you were on.  
  
...  
  
"Wow," said Kairi, as she walked into the room—examining the much more lush, guest area with a surprised expression on her face. "So this room isn't entirely weird like I thought it was going to be."   
  
You laughed. Yeah... as much as you might have liked Goofy—and you knew you could never repay him enough for all the kindness that he'd shown you since day one—you had to admit that his tastes were a bit… weird.   
  
This room, though... This room was probably the one exception. For the most part, it was a long room that was bare—save for the tan, plated floor—until you got to the end of it, where the bed was.   
  
It was king sized, you imagined, and it was draped mostly in white, but there was also some red here and there, so that it looked like strawberries and cream.   
  
The walls were painted a beautiful cerulean color, and there were even red fire petals that seemed to be flying in the wind there.   
  
There was also on the nightstand, right beside the bed, a single, small purple vase that housed a single flower.   
  
You were reminded then, with a sudden jolt, how in your room at home, you always kept one single flower there—amidst the clutter, to try and pretty the place up just the slightest bit. It was a flower that you changed to a more fitting one everyday.   
  
Was Goofy- Was Goofy the same way?, you wondered.   
  
Kairi, who must have caught on to where your thoughts had taken you, placed her arms behind her back awkwardly—as she clearly tried looking at you, to try and remember how she'd once felt about you.   
  
Then, with a sudden flutter like movement, she sat down on the bed and crossed her legs, smiling.   
  
It was like... it was like she was back to emulating one of the action heroines that she oh so adored in your video games, it suddenly dawned on you.   
  
And in going over to sit beside her and her commanding presence, you sat beside her uncertainly for a moment—playing with your fingers as you folded your hands.   
  
And then, with a sudden, odd squeal on her part, she pushed you down, so that your back was flush against the mattress, all the while that your legs were momentarily hoisted up in the air.   
  
Crawling towards you, so that she could look down at your face then, Kairi asked rather cheerily (perhaps too cheerily, you'd realize later), "Well, shall we have our little political debate now?"  
  
"Sure," you said only slightly breathlessly— _totally_  not thinking at all, about how you'd had imaginings of your and Kairi’s wedding night in the past, that were  _very_  similar to what was going on now.   
  
And as fate would have it, Kairi was even wearing a white halter-top at the moment, that kept seeming to slide more down her shoulder with her slightest movements. And you were pretty sure that you could see a trail of perspiration going down her...   
  
"Anyway," you said, as you sat up cross-legged and moved away from Kairi so fast, that you pretty much got whiplash from it. "You're the one who's messing up my grove, by throwing me down and sitting on the covers. You have to put your hands  _under_  them, if you want to play this game, Kai," you told her—suddenly feeling very much like you were explaining the rules of an overly simple game to a toddler.   
  
The way that she was currently looking at you with large, doe like eyes wasn't helping that feeling leave, either. "This was your idea, remember?"   
  
 _And we really need to quiet down_ , you thought.  _Or otherwise everyone’s going to think that your weird, excited yelling means something else entirely_.   
  
"Of course I remember, silly!" Kairi scolded—putting on a façade of being completely indignant that you had even thought differently.   
  
"Now," she said, with a sudden seriousness—something that was a sharp contrast to how she'd been acting just a moment ago, as she sat up straight and took your hands into her own for a moment. Your breath hitched in your throat. "Do you want to go first, trying to stop my hands from disappearing under the covers—like you might stop a cat from kneading at the covers—or shall I?"  
  
"I will," you answered right away, surprising even yourself. After all, you hadn't even wanted to do this. And you still didn't know if it was a good idea, or how to feel about Kairi or the new situations at all, but...   
  
You liked the idea of gently holding her hands and smoothing a trail over them. Lord knew she'd been touched in so many horrible ways lately, so maybe you could remind her that all physical content wasn't designed to harm her, you thought.   
  
Or maybe, what you really wanted, was for her to show  _you_  that: that touching this new version of Kairi’s hands—only in a friendly manner, of course--wasn't a betrayal to the one you had once loved.   
  
And if anything, Kairi seemed as shocked at the recent turn of events as you yourself were—though you tried desperately not to show it.   
  
You took her hands into your own, treating them like they were the greatest piece of treasure you'd ever come across in your life—and really... they were. It was for that reason that you placed a simple kiss to each of Kairi’s wrists in turn. And you held them both up in the air for just a moment—something that Kairi seemed to stare at you for—before you helped her to place them back under the blankets.  
  
Taking the initiative then, Kairi sat up even straighter—and looked down at the covers, or rather… at anywhere but you, you saw, sadly. And then, she said the first thing that the two of you would soon be battling about. "I don't want you to interrogate Xion—at least in front of Roxas. She deserves better than to be doubly humiliated like that. If you think differently, though, try and find my hands here. If you succeed in grabbing them... you win. But if I keep them away from you, I win this point."   
  
Hmm... Could you concede to that point? As much as you wanted to say “yes”, you weren't entirely sure. What if, for whatever reason, Roxas  _had_  to be around you when it happened? And if Xion had magic... she could even have a miniature Roxas in her purse, or something equally bizarre, without you even knowing. And though that wouldn't be your fault at all... you still couldn't bear the idea of lying to Kairi, even if unintentionally.   
  
So you  _would_  argue this point, then. As if seeing in your eyes that you had made a decision, Kairi began moving her hands under the covers in a bit of a blur. They were definitely there, you knew. Moving a mile a minute, sure, but definitely there.   
  
And while before Kairi had just been a young girl playing a silly game, now she had something she truly believed in that she didn't want to compromise at all. For that reason, you knew it was going to be nearly impossible to catch her.   
  
She was also probably trying to make a point and prove to herself that she was strong still, you realized. Catching Kairi like this—a girl who was a magician, no less—wasn't going to be easy at all.   
  
Letting your eyes slide closed, and trying to remember some of the training you'd put yourself through since getting your gift from Naminé, you focused on where you felt the most energy was coming from.   
  
And opening your eyes up so fast that they almost made a snapping sound, you hastily sent your hand to the center of the blanket—right where Kairi's knee was—and put your hand on it. "I win," you said, desperately trying to hide the small smile that was forming its way onto your face, as you noticed how Kairi's eyes had seemed to dilate from your slight contact.  
  
"Right then," Kairi said with sad eyes, that she was quick to try and blink closed—you swallowed painfully, as she tugged her hand out of your grip, like it was she who had been burnt this time.   
  
"Moving onto the next point: I don't think you should use the power that Naminé gave you to subdue Xi. If she's an innocent, she has no right to be attacked by such a thing. In fact, I think she'd being framed, and if that's the case... The real person controlling the Remnants probably used them against  _her_. If that's the case, it would be too hurtful for her to see the weapon—that should have been meant to protect her and to destroy the Remnants—being used against her instead.”  
  
Well... you couldn't really agree with that one either, could you? Whether Kairi believed it or not, you knew you were going to try to get Xion to surrender, or to come with you willingly, to the best of your ability. But if she wouldn't—and if she was, indeed, just pure evil—you knew you'd have to act.   
  
So sighing agitatedly, you motioned for Kairi to do the hands thing again, but this time you were so flustered and anguished, for a number of reasons, that you couldn't have caught onto Kairi's arm even if you’d been being paid to do so.   
  
About five minutes later, you'd had no choice but to admit that she'd won that round: something that was quick to win you a coy smile on her lovely face.   
  
And then, finally, Kairi's last and main concern: "I don't want you to go after Xion, because I know you're going to do something stupid, and that it's probably some sort of trap. So please, Sora… Just don't do it. Don't do it."   
  
And if that wasn't enough to almost make you give up the ghost, you didn't know what was. What if you had been in opposite shoes, and you were the one who was currently begging  _Kairi_  to go home with you, after everything she’d been through, but she was denying for some sort of noble reason?   
  
You knew you'd never be able to forgive Kairi, then, or to think her anything but selfish in her selflessness, so how could you ever ask the same thing from her? Especially now that she was looking at you with the most loving eyes you'd seen from her since you'd found her?   
  
And the answer to that question was ironically another question itself. How could you do anything else  _but_  this important thing for her? You loved her… and so, with that, you wanted to make sure nothing like this would ever happen to her again. And as you knew... Love made you do many, stupid things: even things that ended up intentionally hurting the person you cared for most.  
  
"I can't agree to that, Kairi. I'm really sorry, but I... I just can't. Too many people that I care about are in danger. More people are probably losing their souls right now, and if I have a way to stop it... I- I’m going to do it."   
  
Perhaps seeing the resolve in your eyes, Kairi didn't even fight with you about it, but rather instantly put her hand in yours. Tears gliding down her face like what purified water was supposed to look like, she said two single words that you'd been wanting to hear since you'd started this game, but now cut you to the quick. "You win."   
  
And before you could correct her and tell her that it was hardly a win, even though you so wanted to, Kairi was all ready darting from the room, as if the hounds of hell themselves were after her.   
  
And it was only then that you noticed that the few times you'd been holding hands during this game, Kairi had been writing something there. And now... now you knew what it was. Or rather, who it was.   
  
It was a single name she'd been penning with her finger: a name that you'd begun to know very well.   
  
Naminé.   
  
She had written Naminé's name on your arm, with her index finger. And in that, you could all ready hear what her phantom fourth question would have been: "If you're not in love with Naminé, grab my hands." And you hadn't tried to grab her to stop her crying at all just now, had you? No. You hadn't reached for her at all.   
  
Just when—just when had Kairi decided that you’d fallen in love with Naminé? And what would it have even mattered, now that she didn't love you back?   
  
And the worst and more pressing question out of everything thus far to you: what if she was right?   
  
Oh, god… She  _was_  right, wasn't she? Somewhere along the line, you'd come to fall for Kairi and Naminé both.   
  
And one of the main reasons you didn't want to leave and interrogate Xion—though this reason was also exactly why you  _would_  do so, in the end—was because you didn't want to leave the new girl that you knew so well, anymore then you wanted to leave the old one that you now didn't know at all anymore.   
  
...  
  
"Well, you're not acting like you got laid at all. Quite the opposite, really. What happened, man?" asked Riku, annoyingly enough, just as you left the room only a little while after Kairi had—wanting nothing more than to leave the oddly romantic place, and to go back to your own space, so that you could rip some clumps out of your hair in peace.  
  
"You're quaint as ever, Riku. Look, I'm not in the mood right now, so could you please tell me what you want, or-"  
  
"You're going, aren't you?"   
  
Were you imagining it, or was that real concern and sadness in Riku's voice? You looked at him with another raised eyebrow, waiting for him to explain himself, as he gazed at you with a downcast expression.  
  
Then, pressing a hand to your forehead—you felt a headache coming on—you headed out towards the front room, and the stupid trampoline there, as you looked at him over your shoulder, and sighed what everyone had really known along, "Was that even ever a question?"  
  
"No, I guess it wasn't, but listen..." Riku said, as he quickly followed after you: a look on his face that you could only guess the meaning of.   
  
Somehow, you didn't think this was going to be about your mission, after all, but something else entirely. The question was what?  
  
"I want you to know, Sora," said Riku, as he placed a hand on your shoulder, and looked at you with the most honest look you'd ever seen from him. "I want you to know that I never was trying to sell you out or anything like that. Your insanity thing never sat right with me: who goes crazy at the young age that you did? I wanted to investigate what people would say about it—in another country, so that our officials and you were removed from the situation that way—but... well, you never let it get that far. I never wanted to hurt you—or Kairi, for that matter—all right? Just know that."  
  
Well, color you surprised. Never in all your life had you thought this would be what Riku would come to say to you. And while part of you was so glad to hear what you'd always hoped—that he always  _had_  been your friend, and didn't want to betray you or anything like that—there was also a more wounded, angry part of you that wanted to snap at him for waiting so many years to give you that peace of mind.   
  
Though to be fair, you hadn't exactly been in a positive place to receive  _or_  believe information like that until recently, but still... He'd left you high and dry, and without a guy best friend to talk to—something you'd needed more than once—in your darkest hour.  
  
... Kind of like how you were leaving Kairi to contend to things alone on her own, huh? Maybe it was for that last thought that you tiredly said, and with less gusto then what you were really feeling, "Is this—is this really the best time for that conversation, Riku? We can talk about this when I get back. Or-"  
  
"Except you don't know if you'll be coming back, do you Sora? And you're going to be leaving before any of us get another chance to say a word to you," Riku said so matter-of-factly and so intently, that you were reminded suddenly of how you'd always wanted him on your poker team when you were kids.   
  
Honestly, Riku had always been too good at perceiving things, and it looked as though he still carried that talent. And now… now he was unfortunately using it against you at the moment, as he disclosed the plan you'd barely even admitted to yourself yet: that you were going to leave everyone behind for their safety, and face Xion on your own terms. How had he even begun to guess tha-   
  
As if noticing that you were sizing him up, Riku angrily moved away from the area where you were gazing at him, and huffed out an, "I'm not an idiot, Sora,”—as he stepped as far away from the kiddy trampoline as he was capable of.   
  
No... no he wasn't, was he? And to that end, Riku wasn't a child, either. He'd always been older than you, for one thing, but he'd also served to grow up some in these past three weeks, you were now noticing—you'd just failed to see it before, was all.  
  
"How did you..." you found yourself starting all the same—even though you knew well the answer—as you looked in the eyes of a friend that you'd never thought you'd get the chance to see again.   
  
And now that you did have Riku back, you just as easily might soon lose him again, on some stupid whim of your own, no less: it wasn't a very pleasant thought.   
  
Changing your train of thought, then—as Riku was now just looking at you incredulously, and therefore neither of you were getting anywhere with the passive-aggressiveness—you heard yourself asking instead, "You won't tell everyone, right? What I'm trying to do, I mean. I could beat each of them down to escape if I wanted to—well, I'm less sure about Naminé on that front, but more on that later—but I would really just prefer to sneak off into the night: mainly because I'm doing this to  _keep_  everyone safe, and if you mess this up for me, Riku, I swear I'll kill you."   
  
Honestly, your words didn't hold as much weight as you might have wished them to. It had been happening slowly but surely, yes, but ever since Riku had saved your life and had come to warn you about Aqua—and had even done a bit more before that—you knew you'd been becoming friends again.   
  
And now that you knew for sure that he'd actually only been trying to help you in the past, you found that you wanted to protect him as much as you did the others. As much as you did Kairi, even. And-  
  
"I'm not going to stop you," Riku was quick to reassure you in a very begrudging manner, you could tell, as he sat down on the hard, wooden floor—looking very much like he wanted to start doing push-ups, so as to get his mind off of the situation at hand (or to maybe use that as an alibi, in case anyone asked if he had seen you). "But I really think that you should consider all of this more first. As I understand it, you powers didn't work completely according to plan the last time you tried to use them. But even more importantly, if you kill Xion—who has somehow gotten her hands on the Council member’s heads—you can bet that they're going to come down on you harder and faster than you can blink an eyelash.   
  
“They'll kill you, Sora. If you don't smuggle yourself into a neighboring country, that is. But if you do that, you'll be starting a war. Do you really plan on playing such a dangerous game, just for the chance to talk with Xion alone?"   
  
As Riku craned his head upwards to look at you then, you found that he really did look much like an athlete, who had just gone for a run and probably should have been draping a towel around his shoulders. But here he was, talking politics with you as if it was the most normal thing for his poetic and sporty self to be doing.   
  
You stifled a laugh. Even though you knew, deep down, everything he was saying held great weight, and that really you should have been doing quite the opposite of laughing. "Honestly, I want to go see Xion alone, because I think doing so will lessen the chance of any of those problems arising. If I can just talk to her, make her see sense—something that you didn't seem to be opposed to when we were discussing all this earlier… And yes, I know that was on the condition that you guys would go with me as backup.   
  
“But to answer your question... I guess you shouldn't be worrying so much. I do have some of these things in mind. None of them are answered yet, of course, but I can't shake the feeling it'll all come to me eventually."   
  
Especially since as Riku had so eloquently put it, you did have powers. So far, you'd been thinking of them as separate thing from yourself: the tool that Naminé had given you being nothing more than an instrument that anyone could have used, but… That wasn't the case at all, was it?   
  
Raising up your gloved hands closer to your face, so that you could see them better, you tried to remind yourself that you were the only one who could stop the Remnants for good.   
  
And if this plan of yours went horribly wrong, if Xion killed you on the spot, everyone would be up the creek without a paddle because of your actions.   
  
Still... you couldn't shake the idea that this was the right thing to do for some reason. You just couldn't.  
  
And Riku must have seen your resolve, for standing up and coming to stand by your side again with his hands in his pockets, he gave you one last drawn out sigh, before leaving and waving at you over his shoulder. Turning around to talk to you just once, he said, "Just do me a favor and don't get yourself killed, all right? Not that I would mind marrying Kairi or anything like that, but you're lying to yourself if you think it's anyone she needs but you.   
  
“You can still relate to her, Sora. And right now... she needs that more than anything. Even me and the friendship that the two of us have together." And with that, Riku headed back towards the kitchen, without another word.  
  
...  
  
You sat in the “your own bed” a few hours after that—throwing a ball into the air and then catching it, as you tried to decide just how jailbreaks were supposed to work, exactly.   
  
Should you wait 'til night to leave, so that no one would realize you’d left under the cover of darkness? Or should you leave now?   
  
Maybe people were expecting you to make a break for it later on, so you'd be less likely to be stopped if you went now?   
  
You still weren't entirely sure how you were going to get to Twilight Town and Xion's—err, Roxas'—yet, but you'd work on the details as you needed to.   
  
One detail you'd overlooked too thoroughly, though, was Kairi. And this was proven to you when exactly fifteen minutes later after you'd entered the room, she came into visit you without a warning, and stood at the foot of your bed as she regarded you with cold eyes.   
  
You didn't—you didn't know how to feel or react to this at all. Normally, back when things had been better, you would have hurriedly asked her what was wrong, and would have raced to comfort her, but now...   
  
Now that you'd just had one of the most awkward fights in your life, you were completely baffled.   
  
Fortunately for you, Kairi decided to take the initiative, and to pretend that your previous encounter hadn't happened. "I'm going with you," she said sternly, and her voice left no room for arguments.   
  
And it was only then that you took note of what she was wearing: a black shirt and black pants, perfect for sneaking out of the house unseen. You'd even been thinking of wearing much the same when it came to wardrobe, actually, not that you planned on telling her that, though.  
  
"And I know that you're going to say it's too dangerous and all that crap," Kairi continued on, reading you like a book, as she did an expression of what you may or may not have looked like whenever you got flustered. "But you forget that, unlike you, I actually got along quite well with Xion, and if anyone can talk her down, it'll be me.   
  
“So if you go without me, Sora, not only are you completely disrespecting and mistrusting me—breaking every promise we ever made to each other, and not realizing what I need the most during this difficult time in my life, but... You're also taking away your only shot at winning."  
  
And as much as you hated to admit it, you knew that she was right. If you were to go to Xion yourself, you'd known from the beginning that you'd more likely get into a fight, rather than try to sort out any problems.   
  
And maybe... maybe you'd secretly been hoping for that for some reason, but if you really wanted to save the world—and this was more about your friends than yourself, you tried to remember—you needed to go about things in the most effective way possible from the get-go.   
  
And so that meant that even though you wanted nothing more than to steal Kairi away and protect her, you would instead take her to possibly the most dangerous encounter of her life—and quite possibly to the person who had done all of these horrible things to her.   
  
But there really was no other choice, was there?   
  
Using the two words that she had earlier, you said only, "You win."   
  
And the smile that lit up Kairi's face for it, as she bowed her head gratefully, was so bright that you thought it probably put all the stars in the sky to shame.   
  
How you longed to kiss her in that moment, but…you couldn't. Not yet.   
  
First, you needed to end the nightmare you found yourself in right now, and try and find a way to save all of the lost souls.   
  
Then, you needed to make sense of your feelings for Naminé—something that didn't seem like love at all, as it seemed like maybe something else entirely.   
  
But mostly... you needed to finally make everything up to Kairi and be there for her—learning who this new version of her was through and through.  
  
And then and only then, if she wanted it, would you marry her like you'd always promised yourself…   
  
If you survived all of this, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may just be my favorite part of this entire story. I just really love the SoKai moments here, and that Sora and Riku have made up and are friends again (and that Sora now knows that Riku had always had his best interests at heart, and never betrayed him). Plus, the way that most everyone is developing into better and stronger people is also nice.
> 
> Be sure to leave me a review and to tell me what you think of it all, now that things are getting even crazier, please.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and hopefully I’ll be able to end this beast of a story soon:)
> 
> -Shanna


	8. Chapter Eight: The Coming to Lights

It was funny, you thought, how different ideas could lead to such different outcomes, even if the source for both was the same.

When you'd been riding in a train with Naminé, for instance, you'd been sleepy and panicky most of the way—trying desperately to come up with some sort of plan, as you raced against the clock.

Now you were on the rails with Kairi (which thankfully had free admittance, as you'd now about spent all your allowance), but the situation couldn't have been more different than the ride from before.

And even though it was the middle of the night, the both of you were wide-awake, looking at a map and discussing every possible outcome in harsh whispers.

Though there were many people on the train with you—there'd even been one little boy who had gleefully tugged at his mother's sleeve while looking at the two of you, as he had asked if that was what teenage couples were meant to look like—they seemed to be out cold and ignoring you entirely.

As it was, you'd never been more grateful for anything in your life.

You'd worried that the hoodie, hats, and glasses that you both were wearing would tip everyone off that you were hiding in plain sight, but something seemed to be watching out for you for once, you thought appreciatively, and so that hadn't happened yet.

"We need to decide," Kairi said at last, as she leaned ever closer to you so that you could hear her—her knees knocking into your own with each movement that she made. "We need to decide," Kairi said again, "if I'm going to go in and approach her first—even though I've only met her a handful of times and I'm supposed to be missing—or if you should... even though you guys kind of hate each other."

"Kairi," you were quick to tell her, as you made your decision much faster than you thought you would.

Placing a pencil into her hand, and guiding it to write over the paper, you helped her write what the main problem with her idea was, all the while that you whispered it into her ear: "You forget that she might be your kidnapper. If she is, she's going to know we retrieved you, and she won't be happy about that at all. She'll also probably know you're with me, and that I would never let you go anywhere by yourself for a while.

"So, as much as I hate to say it... You probably should go in first. Not because she'll talk to you, but because if she is the one behind all of this... you're going to have to be the bait. She went after you for a reason. I know before we just thought she was targeting anyone through the Cycle, but... while the rest of us are wanted criminals on the news, you're listed as a missing person. That has to mean something."

Well, that certainly didn't seem to sit well with Kairi, you thought, as you noticed her purple eyes glow in panic, before she solidified her gaze and caused a small fire to burn through her gaze instead: a fire that you were learning more and more that she was still capable of.

"I don't like any of this at all, Sora," Kairi said, before taking one of your hands in her own and placing a kiss to all the fingers there—lingering a bit longer than she had to, but then again, neither had she had to kiss you at all, necessarily.

Kairi... was she starting to fall for you again, you wondered hopefully? A lot of the signs seemed to be pointing in that direction—and maybe she'd always maintained feelings for you, after all—but now was definitely not the time to dwell on all of that.

"And I don't mean about having to be the bait. I'll happily do that, if it means things can move along easier, but I hate that all of you are targets when I'm not. What if that means, when all of this is over, an execution squad will take you all and kill  _you_ , but throw me into an insane asylum for 'Stockholm-syndrome' or something. I couldn't bear it if that happened, Sora. I couldn't bear it at all."

To say that you couldn't bear it either would have been an understatement.

And though you'd always prefer that Kairi live through any situation she found herself in, you hated the idea of her being thrown in the loony bin.

For one thing, Kairi was  _not_  crazy. Not like you. And since you knew how much being mentally ill sucked—and how people treated you because of it—it was one of your worst nightmares, that Kairi might have to end up going through all that you had.

Another nightmare had been when you'd thought that Kairi didn't really exist at all—and was rather just a figment of your imagination, for no one could really love you like she did—but there was no point in thinking about that now.

"I know, Kairi," you agreed, as you grabbed her closed hand and placed it against your heart: the movement serving to drag Kairi so close to you, that her lips almost brushed your chin—something you barely noticed. "But we have to believe that this will end well, and that someone will see and believe in all that we did. It's the only chance we have, and it's actually a pretty good one. More than what some people might get, in truth."

To be honest, you could barely believe the words that were coming out of your own mouth. This entire situation was completely fucked up—more fucked up than anything had the right to be, and here you were being completely optimistic. What gave?

You remembered back to the conversation you'd had with Naminé, about how you'd always been like this—even when you weren't taking your medication—but how that part of you had been pushed down.

Now, though, you found yourself wondering if those words had been entirely true.

You felt different right now, and you weren't at all sure if you did so in a good or bad way.

"Riku," you said, as you looked down at Kairi, who had moved so that she was sitting with her head resting against your shoulder, and with an arm draped over your side, before she looked up at you really cutely—with her button nose almost brushing your jaw.

"When I spoke to Riku, when he caught us leaving but let us go… he said that he doesn't think I should be taking my medication, and that I'm not really crazy at all. But also know you think I should, and I guess… I guess I'm just at a loss about what to do," you said rather lamely—scratching the back of your head, and hoping you didn't sound as lame as you felt.

Kairi drew her feet up beneath her, with a curious expression on her face, as she seemingly pondered your issue.

Then, after having chewed on it for a bit, Kairi said what you'd begun to think about it all, too. "I think... I think you should keep taking it, because it  _does_  make you better and more clear-headed somehow, but… I don't think that you're insane, Sora. I never have. In fact, I think there's something else going on here."

And it was then, when she leaned closer to you to press a kiss to your cheek, that you noticed that everyone had started to watch your "display of love": probably thinking they were getting access to a free soap opera or something.

But as Kairi's lips gave you the courage to face what was coming like nothing else could have, you found you didn't care about them watching you in the slightest.

 _Let them watch_ , you thought. This might be one of the last moments you could ever have together, after all.

And if they happened to be brainwashed by the Council, these people might even wind up being your executioners, huh?

...

The walk to Twilight Town ended up taking a bit longer than you thought it would.

With both of your energies failing, the two of you had only been able to reach the city in the wee hours of the morning.

Maybe... maybe Riku had been right, and you both should have thought about this better before committing, you admitted to yourself.

You then began wandering away from the train station, and then through the murderous woods where the Old Mansion resided—nearly tripping on logs, and falling into jagged twigs that would have speared you through, many a time—and then finally you were out in the Tramm Common area: this would lead you straight towards Market Street and then Roxas' house.

The question, though, was what you were going to do when you got there. Xion wasn't likely going to be awake, let only ready to receive people in the humid heat on this early morning.

But then again... wasn't this kind of thing exactly the reason people had guest rooms, you thought?

Or more importantly than that, if Xion really  _was_  evil... then maybe catching her unawares really was the best thing to do.

And oh, god… Kairi was going to pass out, wasn't she?

You'd known that trekking through the dark—though now turning bright—forest this early had been a terrible idea.

What if- what she ended up getting malaria from mosquitoes or something? Seriously. Then she'd die and everything you'd done would be for nothing. Just what was wrong with you?!

"I wish..." Kairi said, as she stopped to take a break, standing in front of the accessory shop window, and having a death grip on its wall. "I wish that I were microscopic like those dust motes we see are, that way I could just lie down on those gas powered lamps here, but there's really no chance of that, huh?

"C'mon, Sora," Kairi said the last, in seeming to find just a bit more strength, as she grabbed onto your hand and began leading you towards the direction that you needed to go. "Let's go talk to your would-be-cousin-in-law."

And so inspired were you to do exactly that, that you both ran to Xion's house swiftly, in an almost adrenaline sort of haze, and pushed through the tapestry that kept her and Roxas safe there without a second thought.

You'd never stopped before to give much thought to why out of all the places the two of them could live together, they would opt for a one-roomed shack.

You knew the cost of living was high in this world—and in fact, according to Kairi, part of the reason the person in charge of the Cycle was doing it all was to make some money for themselves—but even with the small salaries that Roxas got, you thought he would have been able to afford _something_  a little better, what with all the hours that he worked.

But, as it was, the room being small actually ended up being good in this one instance.

Using her magic to light the area up, so that you didn't fall over something and die, Kairi ended up giving you the advantage you'd been looking for all along.

Xion, it seemed, was asleep by herself in her bed, and completely oblivious to the interrogation you were about to give her.

You grinned: there was absolutely nowhere for her to run, but towards the door that your magical girlfriend was sealing off. All was going incredibly well...

Until Xion awoke, rose to her feet with a gasp, and in one quick movement, and turned the entire area to frozen, pointed icicles. Oh, god.

The ice— the purified water. There was no denying it now. Xion was  _definitely_ the one behind everything, and she'd probably be summoning Remnants immediatel-

"What in god's name," she growled, "are you doing in my house?!"

"I could have asked  _you_  that same thing when you came after me, soul stealer!" Kairi screeched, sounding more vicious than you'd ever heard her before, as she wriggled free from the glass imprisoning her, and melted all of the ice with her fire. Then and only then did she send a spark hurtling towards Xion's face.

Horrified, you had wondered what had happened to Kairi's plan about talking calmly to her first, but then again… when you'd seen just what Xion's powers were, everything had changed, hadn't it?

And now— now you were stuck in the middle of an all out war.

Kairi was angrily trying to deal with the person who had caused her  _so_  much damage—something you know she rightfully deserved—but suddenly... something didn't sit right with you.

"Kairi," you said, only barely hearing your own voice through the ice that was now holding you hostage, and nearly freezing you to death. The shard aiming pretty close to your eyes also didn't bode well for you at all. "Hol- hold on a minute. Don't send another fireball at her, okay? I think— I think she's innocent."

The look Kairi gave you then, as she paused in stepping closer to Xion's throat, in order to hurtle the flames at her, would have been enough to curdle milk.

And you could understand why... all of the evidence—or so you had thought, anyway—had led to her. She was the only lead you had, too, so if _Xion_  wasn't the evil one, you had no idea how to stop this at all, but...

For one thing, why would Xion steal her own soul? Why would she live in a place like this? If everything that Kairi had said in her dream was true, then it didn't add up.

Furthermore, she had Naminé's former soul. And no matter how you looked at it, you just couldn't see someone ever using Naminé's powers for evil purposes.

But even more important than all of that... the water she'd just exerted wasn't just purified, it was what youwere supposed to be doing to stop the Remnants—something you hadn't been able to manage at all.

So in that, you knew that the magic Xion was using couldn't be natural for her.

Ice magic, as it turned out, didn't exist. It was just something that occurred when you tried to cleanse a Remnant—the result of the dregs of society mixing together with someone's good attempts, like waves.

So if Xion could somehow create ice like that—without the Remnants to try and cleanse, even-didn't that hint that her soul was completely pure? Even more than your own, maybe?

"Wh-what's going on?" Xion asked, as she looked between the two of you with tearful eyes, and a few gasps of pain squeaking out every now and then. Stepping away from Kairi hatefully, Xion seemed like she wanted to try and stop the small flames that were eating up the desks in her apartment, but thought better of it.

"The news says that you're a criminal, Sora, I hope that you know that. And you're not at all showing me that you  _aren't_. And I thought—I thought this girl of yours was supposed to be missing! I also thought she had some manners, but I guess I was wrong about that!"

Xion glared at Kairi, which—in the end—just served to make the redhead clench her fists, and to make the flames on the work desks shoot up even higher. And though you knew Kairi hadn't meant to do that—her emotions and powers were just out of control right now—you'd finally had enough.

It was clear that Xion was lying about  _some_  things, that was true, but she still deserved better than this.

Even when you'd thought she was guilty before, you hadn't planned on approaching her like  _this_ , and now… now that you were certain that she was innocent somehow, you knew that Kairi couldn't enact her vengeance on this girl… even if you  _had_ , personally, always hated her.

And so, looking at Kairi with expressive eyes—something she instantly understood the meaning of, though didn't look too happy about—Kairi let the pyres die down, and Xion let the ice dissipate, and then…

Then the three of you stood together in the bare-boned room, trying not to note the water coating every inch of the floor like a swimming pool.

The odd item of Roxas' you'd noticed the last time you were here, glinting faintly in the new light, and seeming completely unscathed.

Having a conversation with each other now… wasn't the easiest thing in the world.

And Xion looked so—rightfully—peeved, that you thought she might began stabbing you with the knives littering the ground, if you didn't give her the explanation she deserved.

So ignoring Kairi's protests for the moment, and just what she must have been thinking, you laid everything out on the line for Xion, and she… took it all better than you thought she would.

Probably because she knew a lot more than she was letting on, you thought—as her own soul had been switched—but you chose not to comment on that right now.

"So," she said, before making a popping sound with her lips, and moving to play an almost patty-cake like game with her hands, seeming somewhat bored. "You think I'm in league—or at least know of—whoever's doing this, don't you? That Roxas whispers the secrets he learns at work into my ears?"

 _You said it, not me_ , you fought about replying with, as you noted Xion looking at her reflection in some of the water on the floor—acting like it might reach up and pull her away from this horrible, awkward situation she found herself in. "Well, I can't say that you're wrong, unfortunately, but you're barking up the wrong tree. If... if you want to know who I think it is, I think it's Ventus, but Roxas has nothing to do with his twin—so would know nothing about it—and I haven't gone near him for too many years, so I don't know for sure, either."

"Ventus—you mean 'Ven'?" you asked uncertainly, as you looked between Kairi and Xion for some sort of confirmation. Or rather… a denial.

You'd never met Ven before, and had only ever heard about him in your family's stories—when they mentioned him around you, forgetting you weren't as loopy as they sometimes thought—but it was enough.

Kairi squeezed your hand in her own tightly, as she sat down on the baby blue carpeted floor beside you, and probably saw rationalizations flashing in your eyes.

It seemed that the ginger had finally acquiesced to Xion being innocent—now that there was a new name to explore: a name you were greatly suspicious of—and you found that you were glad you were both on the same page now.

Before, you'd been hell-bent on going after Xion—to which Kairi had argued—and when you'd both gotten here, you'd switched positions.

But now… now you were both agreeing again, and that was the most meaningful thing to you in the world. You squeezed her hand back just as reassuringly.

And frankly… you needed some reassurance now, as you thought about Ven, and how he was dragging your family's name through the mud: more than it all ready had been done through  _you_.

"I don't understand. Why would… why would the black sheep of my family do something like this? What connection does he have to the Council, anyway? Wha-"

"He's not  _so_  bad," Xion quickly countered, as she stood up and headed for the only bookshelf in the small room, and began leafing through one of her old yearbooks, presumably.

You thought about getting up to see what she was looking at, if she wasn't coming back to talk to you about it, but thought that if you moved too far away from Kairi's kind touch, you would faint with all the information overload. You hadn't slept in quite some time, either.

"Before I met Roxas... I was in love with his twin brother, Ventus. Yes, Sora. 'Ven', or 'Ventus', actually, is Roxas' twin. And I'd be willing to bet he's using his similarities to his brother to break into the Council, with them unawares, to whisper ideas to the worse people, and to do everything he can to disrupt the system we have."

 _But why? Why would he do this_ , you wanted to ask?  _Who would ever go along with such evilness and craziness?_   _And how could you—how could you have_ ever _loved him, if you had any idea he could do stuff like this? And how could you just go and fall in love with his twin afterwards?_

Okay, so Roxas wasn't  _really_ that bad, and he and Xion were perfect for each, other from what you'd seen.

But… even though you were loath to admit it, you didn't think you could have done something similar to what Xion had, if you had been in a similar situation.

You would've always seen the evil one's face in the new one, and would never have been able to sleep at night.

"Umm," Xion began, starting to answer some of your questions without even meaning to, as the book tumbled from her arms with a thud—as if she couldn't bear to hold onto it and its bad memories any longer.

You even thought you could see some secret instructions that Ventus must have left for her to carry out a long time ago in it.

God, was he crazed, or what?

For that reason, you could almost even  _handle_  this new idea of tracking someone down with Roxas' face—your dad's face—and killing him. Almost.

"Ven wasn't always bad. Quite the opposite, really. He and Roxas grew up in the slums—something I know that's always been hidden from you, Sora, and they only barely survived it growing up.

"God, Ven was so skinny when I met him, that it's a wonder that he hadn't completely starved to death yet. He  _does_  want to get more money from people by diminishing their ideals through soul switching, but only so he can have enough to hand out even amounts of it to  _everyone_. He's a well-intentioned extremist, but... his ends doesn't justify his means, like he thinks they do.

"He even thought that  _I_  was so flawed, that he performed the surgery on me—his own girlfriend, at the time. And no one deserves to get their identities shifted like that. No one. But I'd be lying if I said I don't still somewhat love and understand him. Maybe I always will.

"And Sora, I'm sorry... When you originally came to me about the Kairi and Naminé stuff… I knew it all, but I hid it from you. I acted out, even, because I was trying to protect Ven. I really wish that I could take that back, but I can't, and I'm sorry."

In all your wildest dreams, you'd never thought that you'd end up sympathizing with and understanding the person you'd dehumanized in your head for so long.

You turned to Kairi, trying to see if she felt the same way at all, but she looked disgusted more than anything else.

Yeah... even with everything you'd just heard, it was still a lame excuse in your book.

You'd never lived like the twins, so you had  _no_  idea what it was really like, and to act like you did, but... You couldn't imagine how just being poor should give someone the right to send people's souls away!

And that... that was why you knew you had to stop Ventus. No matter what.

"Look," Kairi said surprising you, as she moved and stood closer to Xion, but kept a defensive stance up, even then. "I'm sorry for suspecting you and misjudging you. And I guess I owe you an apology, since if it was my idiot here doing these kinds of things, I might feel the same way that you do, but...

"You've got to make it stop, Xion. Stop returning to the flame. Ventus  _betrayed_  and  _destroyed_  you in the worst way possible. Believe me, I  _know_ how awful it is. And so the only way any of this can  _ever_ be made right... is if you tell us how to find and stop him, and we can get him to reverse what he's done. So will you help us? Please?"

Of course, if it had been you, you knew you wouldn't have been able to refuse Kairi in the slightest—as she cocked her head to the side with a pearly white smile on her face, and held her hands out in prayer, but then again...

Xion wasn't gay or in love with Kairi at all, so...

Or was she? Because much sooner than you would have guessed it, Xion was nodding her head, and taking Kairi's hands in her own—explaining how it had once been her  _job_ to stop Ven, as she'd been put on his case long ago, even, and that that was how everything had started.

And now... now she would face Ven again. Now she'd turn on her former lover just like that, and stand with us, like she should have long ago.

You would all face off against a man—the end of the world, really—who had more power than he ought to: a type that made absolutely no sense, but you would do it, and you would succeed. You had to….

And yet… you had a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach that nothing was going to go as you planned, and that the worst outcome imaginable would happen.

It was like you were seeing a vision of the future, even, but maybe if you regrouped with everyone, told them what you knew, and came up with a real plan this time, you could counteract it? You could only hope so…

"Sora..." said Kairi, with a tone in her voice that reminded you of Riku—when he had broached the same subject before. "I think you could go see your parents. They love you, and they would help us. They know things, too."

 _No they wouldn't_ , you wanted to say.  _Because there's something weird going on in me—something I can't even begin to understand, that they probably even_ know _—and they haven't helped me once. They haven't even warned me about Ven, or anything_.

But instead of saying all of that, you instead opted to act closer to a cute puppy, refusing to cater to its mistress' wishes, when you muttered simply, "Ehh?!"

...

The moment that Kairi and you snuck back into Goofy's house later Wednesday morning, Naminé nearly killed you.

Frankly, you were surprised that she had even discovered that you'd left—you and Kairi and had both been careful, and Riku had promised you that he wouldn't say anything: something you honestly believed.

But maybe she'd been able to sense that Kairi had messed with the wards protecting the house? She  _was_  their creator and therefore connected to them, after all.

"You!" the blonde witch snarled, only after Kairi had disappeared into her temporary room, so that she wouldn't have to reprimand you in front of her cousin.

"Honestly, Sora, sometimes your foolhardiness really makes me want to hate you," Naminé complained, as she blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face—just as she leaned ever closer to you, and held a hand up against your throat: something that reminded you of what Kairi had tried to do to Xion just a day earlier: minus the flames. You gulped.

But whether it was because you were being pushed against the kitchen wall by Naminé, almost seductively—as she made music with her shuffling feet, or something else entirely: like how she probably could kill you if she really wished to—you didn't know.

"Here I thought it was bad enough that you were ignoring dear, sweet Kairi's needs—and deciding to look at me with googly eyes—for some stupid reason. But to hear that you  _took her to Xion_ —knowing full well who we thought she was, and just what that meant—I could… I could kill you, Sora! I really could. In fact, I'm very much thinking of doing so right now."

Later on, you might wonder how it was that someone so tiny and delicate looking—and deep down, you sensed that Naminé  _was_  more vulnerable than she let on—could be so threatening. But right now, you could only focus on the main, dire things: like your weakening air supply.

"Naminé," you choked out, feeling completely betrayed and for that—even though you understood why—your crush for her began leaving you instantly... if you'd ever even really liked her, that was.

Really... really you'd been using her an excuse, because you'd been afraid of "the new Kairi" (who really wasn't that different from her old self at all), and now you recognized just how stupid you'd been with everything lately.

"Kairi, she— she's the one who insisted on going! And I know," you said, as you grappled against the girl's strong grip—wondering if maybe you could fish your blade out of your bag if you needed to, but hating the thought all the same. "And I know now—I know it was wrong to take her along! At least without consulting you about it first, but... but she's safe, right? Xion wasn't the one we were looking for, so-"

Naminé let you drop to the floor without another word—magnets falling from the refrigerator near you, for the weight of your fall.

And you'd expected many things to happen after Naminé had released you: for her to say something witty, maybe, to make you feel even worse. Maybe for her to laugh at your foolishness and how stupid you looked.

Honestly, you thought she probably would have apologized in other circumstances, but right now—the one thing you hadn't counted on to happen at all—was exactly what ended up transpiring.

Falling to the ground in a sob, Naminé cried terrible, heavy and sharp sounds, as she began rocking back and forth, and looking at her hand like it had the answer to the universe written into it.

You were hugging her before you could think not to, or before you could take it back—pulling her to your chest, and running a hand over her back soothingly as she cried and cried and cried.

Somehow, though you didn't know how exactly, you got the impression that after what had happened to her—after she'd lost her soul, and maybe suffered even more than Kairi had, since she had assuredly been one of the first people to go through the ordeal-she hadn't allowed herself to grieve or to really think at all about what had happened to her.

She must have been bottling up her feelings for years, you thought, and only now—when she thought she might lose Kairi, one of the only people she still had in her life, and was faced with the idea of coming across the person behind it all: the person who might have even carried her own soul—she was breaking down completely.

"Naminé," you said unsure of yourself, and feeling very much like you were trying to psycho-analyze a stranger: something the blonde girl probably didn't appreciative of, as she dealt with the idiot who had endangered her cousin, and had fancied himself in love with her—even though he'd never really known her at all, you realized now.

"I think... I think you should go see your family. You need them more than you know. I mean, you're younger than me, so you could easily pull it off. And you… you said that you ran away when the Cycle people came looking for you again, but now... But now I'm thinking that that really wasn't the case at all, was it?"

"I-" Naminé began to choke out, and you definitely didn't like the way that she was leaning forward, as if she was crying so hard that she was about to become physically ill.

It wasn't the idea of her throwing up that even bothered you, but more that you hated the idea of her being so hurt that her mind sought to deal with it by making her sick. You couldn't even imagine what such a thing would be like—

Well, actually, maybe you could.

It wasn't something you were happy about, though, as you remembered the memory you'd repressed about making yourself throw up, because you'd been unable to deal with your parents not loving you.

As always, it had been Kairi that had saved you and pulled you to your senses then. Seriously, just where would you have been without her?

"She said goodbye to her parents soon after she lost her soul. She thought they shouldn't have to be around someone who had their daughter's face, but might not even  _be_  her," Riku, of all people, ended up explaining, as he quietly padded into the room and helped Naminé into a chair at the table: she looked as though she was about to pass out.

And though you were more than happy for his help—the situation had been getting out of your control—you still had to raise your eyebrow at the whole ordeal.

Since when had Riku known anything about Naminé? Sure, he might have known her in passing from school.

And he'd even been asking Goofy about her when you'd been at the Council Building (though you thought that was moreso because he'd realized she had powers like Aqua had had at the moment, and thus wanted her help), but as far as you'd known... they were  _possibly_  acquaintances, but nothing more.

How, then, did Riku know this about Naminé?

"The two of us talked about some things when you and Kairi disappeared," Naminé whispered weakly, as she tried to throw a smile in your direction.

Dear god, was Naminé a good girl. A good girl who had suffered  _way_  too much, if she'd really removed herself from her loving family for such a selfless reason, and was now… was now trying to reassure and apologize to  _you_ , when she herself was still going through hell.

"Riku— he's a surprisingly good listener, and talking to him seemed to put my mind at ease," Naminé explained, as she pulled her head up—from where it had been drooping downwards before—but only so droll, or were they tears, could fall from her face and to the checkered floor beneath you.

Naminé... just what had you  _done_  to her? Making her use her powers like she had been—and even making her chase phantoms from her past—really  _had_  been a terrible idea, in retrospect.

Still... maybe she'd to do all of that, so to finally reach her true self again.

And you knew without a doubt now, that these versions of Kairi, Naminé, and Xion really  _were_  them.

It was your memories and choices that made you, after all, not some form of mystical life force that no one could even begin to understand.

You only wished that you could've understood all of that a lot sooner.

And now such a thought almost made you want to change your entire view on the situation at hand.

But if nothing else, you needed to stop Ven, so that no one would have to live in fear and uncertainty anymore.

"Naminé, you just rest, okay?" you said with a smile on your own face—trying your best to assure the younger girl, as you hugged her again, and smoothed some of her knotted hair down. "And then—then we can talk about finding your parents and assuring them of what a great girl you really are."

And despite everything: despite the false, angry, and tough front she'd been putting on for as long as you'd known her, Naminé smiled at you like a small child might have.

Squeezing your thumb in her hand, like a baby would hold their parent's finger in their hand for the first time.

Naminé... Poor, poor Naminé.

If you could, you'd make sure she'd never have to use her powers again, or feel strained, for the rest of your journey.

But unfortunately, you couldn't promise her that you didn't need her anymore at all.

You couldn't promise her—or anyone, for that matter—anything.

But maybe thinking that you could, Naminé promptly and peacefully fell asleep in her seat, with your hand still in hers.

And Riku—who you had seen holding her gaze throughout the whole ordeal—smiled peacefully, too.

...

"I'm going- I'm going to go see my parents," you whispered to Riku, a little while later, when you were both certain that Naminé was dead to the world, and that your voices wouldn't wake her up.

"I really,  _really_  don't want to. But I do think it's probably for the best now. I can hardly ask the same thing of Naminé—or Kairi, for that matter—if I don't own up to my own words. And this could be my last chance to see them and get some answers from them: answers I might need, so please don't try and stop me,"

 _Don't try to stop me, even though I'm still barely hanging on from everything else I've been through_.

"As it happens," you continued on, knowledgeable of Riku's silence and the concerned look that he was throwing in your direction, but thankfully restraining himself from saying anything aloud. "I think I've realized that this whole soul thing isn't as much of a big deal as I initially thought it was.

"But we still need to stop my cousin from kidnapping and torturing people, so yeah… I guess I will need to stop him, huh?"

Somehow, the more you said it, you became more confident with what you needed to do, but it started seeming less and less real for you. And if that was a good thing or not, you couldn't be sure.

And who even knew if anything you did would end up making a difference in the long run? But even so… you would try it, anyway.

"I'm going to take a leaf from Kairi's book here," Riku said, as he began absentmindedly drawing patterns on the blue, circular table beneath him—though you suspected what he really wanted to be doing was comforting Naminé.

"Like how Kairi didn't think Xion was behind everything... I can't see how your cousin is the evil one here, Sora. I mean, if he  _has_  gotten into the Council's head—and now has them doing stuff that they  _want_ to do—why would he have to keep up the guise of pretending to be Roxas? I don't get it.

"And furthermore, if this is the reason your family labels him a 'black sheep', how do they even know about any of this? It doesn't make any sense!"

Well, frick. Riku had a point, didn't he? A point that you didn't want to admit to at all, because if he was right... that once again meant that you had no leads. But there had to be a simple explanation, right?

Grabbing at straws, and whispers you only barely remembered, you quietly asked Riku if he thought that smaller, repeated things would be enough for a family to label someone a black sheep—even if they didn't know the bigger more important details.

Riku said he didn't know.

And so you left Riku alone, with really nothing to go on: no backup plan or anything—maybe with the idea your parents might tell you something—but his promise that he'd tell Kairi you'd hadn't gone after Ven without her, and… and also these words:

"I'll come back to you, Kairi. I promise!"


	9. Plastic Blue

It was when you were on the Play Island—cautiously ducking away from the curious stares of everyone around you—that you finally worked up the nerve to dig out your cell phone, and to tell your parents that you were coming home.

And now you even had to wonder why the government idiots after you hadn't tried to track your mobile number.

But if people were starting to wake up with magical powers now—something you suspected, anyway—maybe they thought they were above that type of thing?

You sighed, trying to decide whether or not you should go into Naminé's house—that was conveniently right beside you—to finish your call.

On one hand, the more you stayed outside, the more likely it was that you'd get caught. But if you really _were_ going to go see your parents, you knew that you needed to start rowing towards the Main Island as soon as possible. Otherwise, you'd be doing so in the cold, dark night.

And even though you'd been on the Island since birth... doing something like that wasn't exactly on your agenda, thank you very much.

…Maybe it was best that you stayed right where you were, then, and just quickly called the 'rents, but… As easy and nice as that would be, you knew you'd put off the inevitable for too long.

Well, hopefully they wouldn't freak when their wanted son showed up on their doorstep.

You jumped into one of the small boats tied up at the dock, and began taking off in their direction before you could stop yourself.

As you began dialing your own number with shaking hands, you ended up having to wait three rings—while you thought about hiding in a cave at the edge of the area-when finally your dad picked up.

You cursed your luck. Tifa, you could have dealt with much easier, but… it would probably be best to shove that idea and go ahead and plead your case, huh?

But just what were you supposed to say to Cloud, of all people?

Best not to over think it, you thought, as you ran a hand over your face and felt a panic attack coming on—your boat completely stationary as you did this. "'The sky has been mistaken'," you spoke into the receiver, before you could change your mind.

Back when you and your dad had been close—only for a little while, when you'd still been young—you'd made up a code phrase to tell your dad, in case you were ever in sort of compromising situation. You could only pray that he remembered such a thing now…

And if the way he was now breathing heavily into the phone was any indication, then he must have.

A heartbeat later, you heard some sort of rustle on the other side, and then finally your name:

"Sora. Where are you? What's going on- We've all been thinking you must have been kidnapped. Or murdered! Until the news- My god, Sora: the news. Can you _please_ explain something to me that makes the least bit of sense?"

Oh, god. The raw hurt in your dad's voice was something you'd never stopped to imagine before. And now that you were actually hearing it, you didn't think you could endure hearing it ever again.

Was this- was this what you had sounded like when Kairi had gone missing, you wondered? If so, no wonder Naminé had carried you away and helped you so easily then. Riku, Goofy and everyone else.

Still... sensing that the conversation was going better than you'd thought that it would—as the last remnants of the sun for the day beat down cruelly hot onto you—you said, "I know I owe you an explanation, Dad. I owe you that and much more. But I can't explain anything to you right now. I just can't. But I—

"I need you to help me with something, so that I can come home. I need you to believe I'm being the son that you raised me to be."

_The son I'm only now realizing that you_ do _love_ , you realized then, remembering all the times your family had ordered extra cheese on their pizza just for you, and had pretty much allowed you to do anything that you wanted, and had ended up paying _so_ many hospital bills—while holding onto your hand while you were in the bed—to try and help you for your own sake. Never theirs, but your own.

"Dad," you said with an unmistakable sob starting in your voice. And you wondered, then, if you'd now start breaking down just as thoroughly as Naminé just had. "I need you to tell me about Ven. Anything you can think of. What's he like, where can I find him, do you know anything weird about him... do you think he's bad enough to ever go evil?"

_Alongside a Council that he brainwashed_ , you added internally.

"Ven, I don't-" Your father began, sounding faintly suspicious now, as you heard your mother run up the stairs in the background, and begin asking him what you were saying. "What does he have to do with anything, Sora? Did he kidnap you? Has he made you do things? Or is it that maybe he's framing you for something?"

Noticing that you were starting to get some weird stares from the people who were sailing all around you, you quickly got out of the canoe, and retreated into a cave that you'd just noticed a moment ago. It took some time to reach the place, but hopefully your conversation would be safe from prying ears here.

Going further and further into the darkness, until you finally came out into a wide mouth—with white drawings taking up every available space on the walls, and with some sort of strange door there with no means to open it—you worried that maybe people could also get into the cave through another passage, and be able to come out at you that way.

If that was the case, they could be eaves dropping—from behind that door, maybe—and be preparing to grab you at a moment's notice.

And if that _was_ the case... you couldn't think of a way that you could combat such a fact, or a safer place that you could go right now. And so, you would just have to deal with it all.

"Dad, I can't answer any of your questions right now. Just, please: tell me what you know, if you can. Because otherwise, I'm going to have to hang up."

_Because I just now realized that the police could be with you right now, listening into our conversation_ , you thought heartbrokenly.

Maybe... maybe your father didn't love you at all—like you'd been beginning to think that he did—but had just been coached on what to say, in case his criminal son ended up calling.

If that was the case… then you knew without a shadow of a doubt that you were going to end up getting as sick as Naminé just had, with all this mental and emotional strain.

"To be honest," Cloud's voice came at you then—something that was a bit hard to hear for the echoing cave and for the waterfall nearby, but you made do. "I don't know much about Ventus. I know more about your cousin—his twin—Roxas, though.

"In fact, it was _Roxas_ who first heard of the medication you needed when he was a kid—on a commercial, or something—and told us how to help you. I hate... I hate the idea of thinking his twin might be a bad person.

"And Sora, to be quite frank, I don't want you going anywhere _near_ him, but if you must... I can give you the address for Roxas' new house that he's moving into. It's the only place that I can imagine Ven showing up at… I mean, he could easily break into the place—pretending to be Roxas, and all—by getting a locksmith, I think."

"Yes!" you exclaimed excitedly—sadly ignoring your anguished mom in the background, who was begging to talk to you and to know what was going on.

How had you... how had you not thought of something like this before?! If you had a twin, you might have done the same thing, after all! Not for sinister purposes, of course, but still.

As your dad hurriedly began reading the address off to you—something you ended up writing down with a certain app on your phone –you couldn't shake the feeling that you'd finally come to the end of this long, terrible mystery, and that if you went to this address, everything would be set right again. And for that... you felt like crying tears of joy. But you'd save it for later. First, you had to thank your dad for being the best person ever.

"Hey, Dad, listen..." you began, as you shifted your phone from one ear to the other, as you'd been pressing it so close to your left ear for so long now—somehow you hadn't realized you were doing—that you were worried you were accidentally starting to rip off the skin there. "I know we've had our differences, but-"

In the end, you never got to tell your parents that you loved them, like you'd meant to.

Instead, coming up behind you at a speed you hadn't thought imaginable—something you only noticed at all, because you'd heard a whistle in the air and had been turning around at the right moment—you felt a Remnant sticking one of its claws through your chest.

And then, the phone was rolling out of your hands and onto the mulched ground below you, with a startling clang.

And you... you had fallen to the ground in a heap of your own blood, and you felt insanely… cold.

Torrent after torrent of blood was leaking from your ribcage, as you tried to clutch at it to ebb the flow; you aimed to be able to scream at your phone and dad for help, but the sound never came.

What had _happened_? None of the Remnants had treated you this way at the Council Building. Was this how the souls were switched, then, maybe?

No... Kairi had said she'd been sedated for it all, hadn't she?

So what the hell was Ven trying to pull off in stabbing your soul, you wondered?

And how had he even found you, you thought bitterly, as you tried to sit up and to grab the blade that had been hidden in your satchel, but failed miserably at it?!

You needed… you needed to get up and escape through that mysterious door, before he came into the cave to finish the job—for apparently the Remnant who had first attacked you had been giving the orders to wait.

And you knew now that he really _was_ trying to murder you. He wasn't after your soul in the slightest, you acknowledged, as your hands tried to find purchase on the walls to be able to _stand_ up.

That was why- that was why he'd had you stabbed you in the heart, right? He was trying to end your threat as fast as possible—though it seemed like he wanted to give the finishing blow himself, and—

Suddenly, as disgusting as it was to think, you found yourself missing how the Remnants had been slicing up your arms from before.

You rolled over on the ground, and laughed humorlessly—eying all the millions of Remnants who had never gathered around you—and wished for the ability to be able to heal yourself. It didn't come.

And now, apparently, you could only hallucinate: hallucinate that a giant ball of light had just been expelled from your chest—glowing a familiar blue—and had begun purifying the monsters in a way you had never been able to before, and turned all of them to ice.

Maybe—you thought then—maybe blue wasn't as awful and oppressive color, after all.

And with that one last, ridiculous thought, you curled your arms around your chest and tried to pass out.

Somehow you knew that you were going to be okay now, but it was going to be a long and excruciating battle getting there.

And you really didn't want your dad—who was undoubtedly still on the phone you couldn't reach, worrying about you—to be scarred by the screams you were oh so close to making.

But in the end, you couldn't even manage losing consciousness. All you _could_ manage to do was to try to hold onto your sanity—so very hilarious!—for dear life, and to defiantly not look at the feet that had just come into your line of vision.

You felt as though your skin was beginning to melt off.

...

You were almost completely certain you were dreaming now. Or you were half-asleep, or _something_.

For one thing, your consciousness kept switching between several different scenes; and though you thought you subconscious was trying to tell you something—and that you were supposed to be getting something from all of this—you couldn't begin to imagine what.

The first vision you saw, for instance, was yourself in some sort of jail cell… or dungeon, to be more accurate.

It was dark, grimy, and you were most certain that there were some rats scurrying around your toes; there was also the smell of moldy bread and stale water to behold.

And that scene, as awful as it was, probably would have seemed the most real… were it not for the candles and glass lamps from an unseen era lighting it up.

Still... even though you were almost positive you weren't really in this place, you couldn't help but lay bare hands against the bars to try and get out, anyway.

And now… now then there was a blonde girl in a gown running towards you… no, she was redheaded, wasn't she?

She wasn't Naminé, but rather Kairi, and she was coming towards you so fast, that you worried she wouldn't stop, but crash right into the bars separating the two of you.

Or worse: with the determination you saw shining in her eyes, she'd probably find a way to enter the cell _with_ you, and give up her freedom, just so you wouldn't have to be alone.

Blindly, you reached out to grab onto your love's arms—to stop her in her tracks, and to keep her from giving up her life—but your hands gently caught at her fingers instead, and then you were kissing them the way that she had yours, when you had gone to see Xion.

"Kairi," you tried to say in an aggravated tone, but only succeeded in sounding amazed by her daring actions, and the slightest bit put-off. "What are you doing here? And is this- is this even real?"

Kairi, despite the situation you both found yourself in—and despite the fact that you knew you were all probably completely screwed in the real world right now—scoffed, as she batted a dismissive hand.

Then, putting a strand of hair behind her ear—in the way that you loved so much—she answered you exactly the way you needed her to: a way that kept you still okay and smiling through this terrible situation.

"What, in this sexist, impossible, sadistic corset? In your dreams, Sora. Literally.

"God, I hate these kinds of dresses," she continued on, and demonstrated her point by jumping slightly into the air, to try and pull the dress up and to keep it from showing off so much cleavage.

You tried not to stare at the swell of her breasts, that spilled the slightest bit over her top, for you didn't want to disrespect her in this stupid, harbinger of death dream, but... Kairi looked so good in blue, you found, that you couldn't help it.

But you needed to focus on more important things now… Like if you'd ever see the _real_ Kairi again after all this.

"Sora," Kairi said, suddenly serious. And if a girl who was wearing a party dress in a dream was sounding like this, you _must_ have been doomed, huh?

Kairi loved to poke fun at you even in the worst situations, and if that prospect was gone right now, you couldn't even _begin_ to imagine what must have begun to unfold.

But even so… you missed that side of her—the side that _had_ still existed when her soul had been swapped—and how you _wished_ you had spent more time cherishing her then, instead of pushing her away. What if you never saw her again after this? Or-

Grabbing onto her waist through the bars, you ended up bringing Kairi flush against them, so that the two of you were hugging in a strange way.

And giving up on being able to put your chin on her shoulder right now, you finally signaled with your eyes for her to finish telling you what she'd begun to: apparently that something was a reprimand.

"Just what- just what were you thinking in leaving by yourself again, without telling anyone?

"…Well, without telling anyone but _Riku_ , anyway; you've really gotta stop relying on that secretive idiot of ours, Sora.

"But in all seriousness…" Kairi muttered—abruptly serious again—as she leaned so close to you, that you could've kissed each other, if the stupid metal bars weren't in the way. "What the hell were you thinking? Didn't you know, at the very least, that the police were looking for you and Naminé both, and therefore going near her house was a _really_ stupid idea?"

Except it wasn't the police that had taken you, you knew. It had been Ven.

Not that this dream Kairi necessarily knew that, though. She wasn't a mind reader, after all. Not even when she was dream walking like this, you thought with an amused, but then sad smile on your face.

"I just-" you said, as you stretched your arms away from her, and brought them back up to your face: wishing that the cell phone you'd earlier clutched was still there. "I just needed to see my parents again and talk to them. And I wanted to prove to Naminé that she can do the same thing.

"Looking back on it, I know it was stupid, but I can't exactly take it back now, can I?"

Oh, no, you thought distantly—suddenly feeling like you were a spectator watching Kairi and yourself both, instead of actually _being_ there and a part of the things yourself.

You were... you were being pulled away from this dream with her, and now you were going somewhere else.

But you couldn't be! Not until you told her all that you thought you knew, and how to possibly find you!

…Or actually, not until you told her to forget you, to save herself, and to not come after you at all!

This moment here, that you were being pulled away from roughly and even beginning to go incorporeal in… what if it was your last chance to ever see her?!

You simply _couldn't_ leave—wouldn't leave—until you at the very least told that her you loved her, you thought with large, fearful eyes:

Something that succeeded in taking you back to the Kairi scene for just a moment—so that you could brush your fingertips against hers—before you were completely thrown away, and maybe even forgot about Kairi entirely.

…That Kairi, anyway, for now you were sitting at your dining room table at home—sitting with a laughing Kairi and your family, as you handed each other dish after dish.

Wait... this- this couldn't have been right! It had never been like this for you: not after you'd gone insane, anyway.

And if it was a memory before that—yes, you _were_ a child in this memory, weren't you?—then Kairi shouldn't have been able to be here.

You didn't meet Kairi until a year after you'd been diagnosed, when at which point things had all ready become completely wrecked with you and your parents.

…Yeah, you remembered even better now—as you began counting off the years on your fingers, while watching the scene continue to transpire before you-you'd met Kairi when you were five, after having lost Donald at four: before you'd been four-and-a-half, even.

And yet... here she was, and there _Donald_ was: the balding, kind man looking directly at you—the real you in the present—as he sat across from your past self at the table.

"Sora," your pale friend said your name in a voice that you understood was _much_ too clear to just be a memory. "I've been tryin' to reach you foreve', you big palooka. There ar' some things tha' you need to see her'!"


	10. Looking for Meaningful Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point onward, this story will have PoVs from both Sora AND Kairi (and I’ll always be sure to mark such a change). 
> 
> Sora, however, is still the main character/main focus—and whom we’ll be seeing the most of—and so we’ll keep his PoVs in Second Person (as is the Modus Operandi for this story), whereas the Kairi PoVs will be in Third.
> 
> Also, the Kairi PoV is actually behind where Sora’s is currently at: it’s right before she Dream Walks with him in the last chapter, actually, so be well aware of that:)

**Sora’s PoV**

None of this was making any sense, you thought, as your present self also appeared in the dining room—right in front of the many cheerio cabinets.

Before, you’d been thinking that maybe this _wasn’t_ a dream—but rather a true memory, if you could hear Donald’s old voice so clearly in it—but Donald didn’t seem to be talking in the lisp you’d always known him to have. So that meant…

This _had_ to be some fantasy your mind was conjuring up, right? You were about to ask your old friend just that, but before you could, the short man strode away from you and towards the large picture window to the north of the room.

It was... it was raining outside, you noticed now—as you followed after him—and then felt a sudden chill come over you.

Rain… the Cycle… as far as you knew, the two had always been connected. So did that mean that the Cycle was going on during this particular thing you were seeing?

Was what you were seeing now somehow the key to everything?

"Donald, I dunno what you’re talking about. What is it that you’re here for exactly?" you asked, promptly giving up on figuring out the answers for yourself.

You were _so_ sick of all the riddles, trust issues you were forced to have now, and the knowledge that every new thing you learned would just end up hurting you more than anything else had yet.

But Donald—seeming to take pity on you—came back to see you now resting on your couch, and began patting your hair the way you'd liked so much when you’d been a toddler.

And as a single tear began sliding down your face at the memory of it all, you found yourself telling this figment of your imagination a type of honesty that you usually struggled with with other people: "I miss you... I miss you so much, Donald. You were my first friend, and definitely the best babysitter ever. If it weren't for you, I probably would have never befriended Riku and Kairi at all!

“And when Riku betrayed me—or so I'd thought back then, anyway—and dad and I began fighting over every little thing, it was memories of you that kept me from every guy on the planet on principle. And I can't... I can't shake the feeling that your death was my fault somehow…

“God, I miss you, Donald. And if I'm right—and it _was_ my fault—then I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am, Donald. I'm so sorry."

"Shh, Sora," Donald crooned to you, as he began rocking you back in forth in his large, soft hands.

And you recalled then, with a start, that he'd once had a girlfriend named “Daisy”, that he must have comforted much the same way. Had you- had you also cost that poor woman her love somehow?

" _Nothing's_ your fault, Sora. None of it could ever be. All I ever wanted to do was help you, and I'm so glad that I was able to, but... I've failed you some, and it's my time to make up for that now.

“I know what's going on, Sora, and soon... you're going to put it all together yourself, and I'm going to help you with that. So let's start it out, eh?" Donald asked with a smile—a smile that was so pearly, that it nearly put the rest of his albino features to shame—as he bonked you on the head, and then slightly stepped away from you.

"Now, let's call this ‘Donald's pre-school sessions’ again, shall we? I'm going to help you make sense of the things you know, Sora, and if you get all the answers right, then young Kairi here is going to have a very special prize for you."

 _How do you-- how do you know Kairi_ , you wanted to ask? But in knowing that this was still _most likely_ a fit of your subconscious, you stopped yourself and resigned to listen.

You only had so much time here. And in that way, it was almost exactly like the dream you’d just had with Kairi. So it was probably best not to dally with any of this, you thought.

"Do you think the Cycle and the weather outside are connected to each other, Sora?" Donald asked—and to your shock, he even looked a little perturbed: as if he'd somehow read your mind, and thus your earlier thought about that.

"I--" you started, fighting against all of the many things you wanted to say, since Donald was quick to anger and all that.

And even though the image of Kairi eating dinner with your younger self and parents was _definitely_ an illusion right now, you saw no point in ruining their nice moment together by stoking Donald’s fires.

So sticking your hands in your pockets and sighing, you turned your attention back to the storm that was going on outside, and you told Donald just what you’d come to believe about that particular fact. "I used to think that the weather was a cause of the Cycle, or that the person—Ven—was choosing to have the Cycle in this sort of weather for some reason, but now...

“Now I realize that this weather is the _result_ of the Cycle, but not in the way I’d originally thought. The Remnants... they're created from dirtied water. And what dirties waves more than human desire? They're... they're the embodiment of what the people felt when they had their souls ripped out during the Cycle, aren't they? As well as other human desires, too."

And before you’d even finished that thought, you saw that Donald was nodding his head encouragingly.

So you _were_ right, then. That-- that was good.

This also now confirmed that it had nothing at all to do with Kairi, and the girls with water names similar to her—like you'd thought earlier—but you still didn't understand how this was supposed to help any-

"Stealing souls is a sad, terrible offense," Donald told you, as he looked on at the storm with sad, narrowed eyes. "If people _make_ Remnants, don't you think they can turn into them, too? And if that's the case... What is it that you think the assailant's really doing, Sora? He's trying to make an army.

“He may- he may have good intentions, but you have to stop him, Sora. You must remember and _understand_ who you are, because... Someone who becomes a Remnant then becomes lost forever, and that's the worst kind of pain anyone could ever go through.

“Remember how and why I helped you, Sora, and just why it is that you've always seemed to have split personalities. And wake up, Sora. Wake up."

...

At Donald's words, you did just what he had bid you to, with a startled grasp.

And as you woke up in a prison cell—a real one, this time—you saw what Donald had meant about Kairi giving you some sort of gift.

Clasped in your hand was the cane that she had used to give you at school, and it...

It wasn't unlike the weapon that Naminé had given you before, was it?

...

As the recesses of sleep finally began fading from your mind, you were left wondering many things.

For one, why had Ven left you alive after attacking you? If he'd gone after you in the first place, he must have somehow realized you were coming to stop him, right?

Either that, or you had a mole on your team: something you didn't even want to consider right now, though you knew you had to...

Mostly, though, your mind kept coming back to the same, tired thing:

Why would Ventus have left you alive?

It wasn’t like the two of you had ever met before, so you doubted he was just looking out for family or anything like that.

And beyond that, he didn't seem to care about anyone but himself, so what gave?

Why pretty much kill you in such a vicious way, only to heal you and toss you in a jail cell after the fact? Unless--

Unless it hadn't been Ventus who had attacked you, after all, but someone else entirely: someone who remotely cared about you.

Trying to look back at the last memory you'd had while awake—which must have been days ago, if your completely parched throat was anything to go by—what was it that you had seen before you'd drifted off into your dreamland?

You'd seen something familiar, you knew—apart from the blue orb that you now recognized as Donald's signature color, but there had also been something else, too.

Shoes… shoes that you _knew_ , walking through the mulched cave coming to ge-

Aqua, you realized with a gasp, as you shot up in your makeshift bed. _She_ had been the one to come in after you.

You weren't sure if she was the one who had attacked you _per se_ —but she was easily capable of it, you supposed, since she had been able to control the Remnants and use magic while possessed by Ven—but you knew for sure that she was the one who had kidnapped you... and the one who had healed you up after the fact.

And as that last thought donned on you, any murderous thoughts you might have had about her before seemingly vanished.

Aqua had—even in the midst of being controlled—saved your life: something that you were sure Ventus wouldn't have done or have wanted.

But for just a moment, she must have broken free of the chains that bound her and had sought to help you out.

And at that, despite everything—despite how royally you'd screwed up, and how other people were going to end up suffering for that while you were confined—you couldn't help but smile.

Maybe... maybe things weren't so hopeless, after all.

Or... maybe they were exactly that, you thought bitterly, as you picked up a moldy apple that someone had thought to give you and began rolling it around in your hands.

Why, oh why—in all of your strategy meetings—had Aqua's vulnerability to coercion never been brought up in them?

And here you'd thought your group had been acting so intelligent and prepared, too.

Well... you weren't just going to sit here and let another moment pass you by! It all ready felt like you'd been in this cell for an eternity, and you felt so tired, sore, weary, and disoriented.

Somehow, during your dream, Donald had passed to you the walking cane that Kairi (mostly jokingly) had always given you in the early hours of school. So when the moment came, you would use it to attack your jailer and try to escape.

After all, if nothing else, Aqua would probably be able to break free and come and check on you every now and then, right?

You-- you hated the idea of hurting her over something like this—as you knew full well that none of this was her fault—but unfortunately, you couldn't see any other way around it.

You would just have to be extra careful not too hurt her too badly when you attacked her, then, otherwise you would certainly be hearing about it from Riku…

Right: Riku, you thought with a sudden jolt, as you grabbed for the black bars caging you in, preparing to make a fuss—though you made sure to only do this after you’d hidden your weapon away—and began peering all around you.

He _must_ have noticed that his sister was gone! And if that were the case… maybe he’d put two and two together and was coming to get you right now!

…Either that, or he’d followed Aqua to reach Ven, wherever he was—as he’d no doubt realized that she would lead him to him—but you were greatly hoping for the former right now.

Maybe… maybe Goofy and Mickey were even with him, as well, you allowed yourself to dream (all the while imagining using the apple you’d received as a weapon, too).

You missed Goofy's good will and humor so much right now, that it almost felt like there was an actual hole in your soul.

And Mickey--you hadn't even gotten the chance to _know_ him yet: something you very much wanted to do, and so you simply couldn’t rot in this annoyingly furnished prison cell. You simply wouldn’t allow it!

There was so much you wanted to ask Mickey and Goofy about Donald maybe, even, and-

No one was coming to get you, were they? The only chance you’d had for that before was in Kairi, and you’d told her to forget you.

And everyone else… they didn’t even know you were here, you realized dejected: very nearly giving up as you did so.

You wanted to think of Kairi and Naminé both now—if for no other reason, than to have a peaceful end, as the pain you’d felt earlier was desperately trying to come back—but you wouldn’t allow yourself the luxury. If you did that, you might beckon them to you with their magic, and that was something you knew you couldn’t risk:

You loved Kairi too much to ever allow her to be imprisoned again. And as for Naminé—after the state you'd seen her in last—you couldn't bear to put through anymore. Even if she probably _was_ your best bet for escaping this awful place and winning the war.

It was funny—you thought—as you painfully fell back down to the bed, all too easily imagining it as your soon-to-be-casket now:

Before all of this craziness had started... you'd been completely against the institution of friendship: completely against anyone other than Kairi, that was, and now... you had so _many_ good friends, that you didn't want to part with any of them.

You cherished each of them so very much, and if you tried to imagine life without them, it felt like a dark, endless void was reaching towards you to suck into its depths: even moreso than what your mental illness all ready did to you.

Your friends... they gave you hope even in the darkest of times, and now you couldn’t understand why you’d mistrusted them and given it all up to go on a solo mission like this. You cursed yourself.

And it was at that exact moment that a bright light was switched on, bathing the entire area in a green, eerie sort of glow.

And as it blinded you, you had to wonder just how long you’d been down in this place, without any light or sunlight shining down at all.

The bright colors stung at your eyes so thoroughly, that it was almost too easy to recoil from it, but at the very same time that you wanted to embrace it like the long, lost friend that it truly was.

Just how-- Just how long had you been down here, you wondered again—as you heard loud footsteps on the stairs coming your way—as you braced yourself at the corner of the room, where Kairi's gift was, so that you might attack with it?

It must have been at least a week, if you were as you were now, right? So how had you not died of thirst in that time? Had someone been giving you stuff to drink while you slept? And that idea was so unlikely, that you almost wanted to laugh humorlessly, but you didn’t do so.

So had you-- had you been _poisoned_ , then, you thought breathlessly—as you fought the urge to pat at your throat, to see if it felt clogged up at all—as a tall, burly, brunet man stepped into the vicinity.

Well... this wasn't what you'd been expecting at all, you thought disappointed.

You weren’t sure if you’d be able to take on someone of this stature in your condition, either, so it would probably be best to play it safe for now—you thought—and try making him feel sympathy for you.

"You’re--" the words came tumbling out of your mouth before you could stop them, and you could have kicked yourself. You shouldn’t have been trying to get to know this kidnapper, but letting him come to understand you: hadn’t you learned _anything_ in those stupid seminars you’d been forced to attend at school.

And yet... this weird person, with the shark fin looking hair, answered you without you having to egg him on, anyway.

"I'm Terra," the man said in a strong voice that oddly had a bit of sweetness to it. He sat down in a chair opposite of you, and leaned forward with a serious look on his face.

If you were sizing him up correctly (and there was no promise that you were, what with that weird green light and all), you thought that there might’ve something belying his calm exterior, but what?

Was he like Aqua? Not here of his own free will, but of Ventus'?

He certainly didn't _look_ like Aqua, nor did he seem possessed—so you really couldn’t understand how he could’ve latched onto the guy, like he had Xion and Aqua—but who knew how Ven's weird, voodoo powers worked, anyway?

"Right..." you responded simply, at a complete loss on what you should do.

You didn't exactly like the smirk that Terra was wearing on his face, either.

"Look," you said, irritated now, as you stood up with your hands in your pockets, and decided to give up the civil charade. He’d probably just seen through it, anyway, and you didn’t want to risk pissing him off. "Do you happen to know a girl named Aqua? She's not here right now, is she?"

 _That_ got a reaction out of the man. Whistling, as he walked up to your cell and put his own hands on the bar, Terra said, with a surprisingly impish look on his face, "Cutting to the chase real quick, are we? Can't say that I mind, to be honest.

“But to answer your _real_ question, I can't let you see Aqua. She's become fucked up through all of this as it is, and she could probably do well without you throwing accusations around."

With Terra up close and center to you like this, you could tell that he was completely normal. There were no signs that he was being controlled at all, so whatever this was… he had signed up willingly, you thought numbly.

But why… why would anyone choose to work for your cousin, you wanted to know?! Especially someone who seemed so jovial and full of humor?!

Was he just some politician that Ventus had promised a life of luxury, or was there more to it than that?

He seemed- he seemed to be quite protective of Aqua, you realized, so there must have been some light in him somewhere. So why...

Well, if nothing else, maybe you could reason with the side of him that loved Aqua? You could tell him honestly that you had no beef with her in the slightest, and-

"You know, kid," Terra said, seemingly distracted now, as he patted his hands on his wide pants, that seemed to flare out more and more as they reached his ankles. "I thought most people would be asking for their one first phone call right now, instead of about their different captors. You really _are_ a piece of work, ain't ya?"

Okay... so maybe you didn't like Terra as much as you’d thought you could. And was he- was he really snacking on pork rinds as he read you the riot act?! The humanity!

And maybe, as luck would have it, you'd become _too_ hopeful and optimistic of late. Maybe Terra was just evil and there was nothing more to him than that, but it didn’t exactly seem right to you.

For one thing, Terra reminded you just a bit of Riku, so that had to count for _something_ ,right?

And even extremists usually had good intentions, right? Ven was one such example of that, at least, wasn't he? And so you would try something:

Saying the first thing that came to your mind, you tried to look up at Terra with innocent, heartfelt eyes as you asked him—reveling in the light that surrounded you now, and feeling so, so terrified that it would be taken completely away from you—"I wasn't aware that I got to call my folks. Doesn't that completely contradict Ven's desire to get me out of his way?" you asked this, as you cocked your head to the side, and tried your best to emulate the cute puppies that Kairi loved and would have promised the world for.

Maybe... maybe something like that would have a similar affect on Terra.

"But anyway," you continued on, turning instantly serious and tragic before you could stop yourself (or to try and see if what you were doing was having the desired affect at all). "I know you're lying to me. If you were really going to let me call home, you wouldn't have removed my cell phone from my pockets, because you would’ve known my parents could track it to come save me. So save your breath, 'Terra'; I don't want to hear anymore of your false promises and lies."

 _Nor do I even wanna try understanding who you are anymore. I don't want to hear about your misguided feelings for Aqua, either, if that’s just going to be a reminder that I'll never get to see_ my _own significant other again_ , you internalized.

And no doubt realizing the finality in your words, Terra left the room with a scowl on his face—leaving you to the darkness, as you'd feared, and no doubt leaving you to starve and to die, as well.

...

**Kairi’s PoV**

Kairi was dancing with Naminé in Goofy's kitchen—laughing, and spinning, and be far too merry after everything she and everyone else had gone through—as she tried desperately to prove to Xion, on the other side of the room, who had just shown up, to join them in their endeavors.

"Nami," Kairi whispered, as she sidestepped Riku—who was currently occupying the table in the kitchen: perhaps trying to hide the switch he'd found that made the keyboard on the floor come and go.

Maybe in being the only one who could make it appear and disappear, he was trying to act like he had powers, too?

Shaking her head to rid it of that weird thought, and the gnawing feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach, Kairi returned her attention to her favorite cousin. "How do you... how do you think I'm holding up? I'm trying so hard not to fall apart here. And I think that maybe I shouldn't do that, since I'm still me _somehow_ , after all, and I think I’ve sorted molded my behavior to fit how you acted after you had your soul—

“But, anyway, do you think I'm seeming engaging enough? Enough so that Xion might join us in our quest, maybe, and hopefully just ignore all of the baggage?”

Naminé smiled at Kairi with an understanding and sad look, and even leaned behind her to turn the stereo behind them down. Presumably, she did so so that she could hear her oncoming words better, Kairi thought.

And then, as she drew her cousin into her arms, Naminé told Kairi with a simple gesture something that words never could have. _Stop trying to be me_ , the embrace said. _I was wrong, and oh so flawed, and it led to me nearly losing myself. You should never do that._

And as Naminé removed the strands of hair that Kairi had put behind her ear—a way that Kairi had never worn her hair before all of this—she knew that she was right. That was much a Naminé hairstyle more than anything else, anyway.

Well, except for the times when Sora did that for her, and served to make her heart flutter and sing in the process, Kairi thought.

"Anyway," Naminé finally said aloud, smiling much truer and kindly than Kairi had seen her do so in a long time. "About the Xion thing, we're doing what we can to get her to side with us, but there are so many weird things going on here. So many connections… So we'll just see how it goes, okay?"

It hadn’t escaped Kairi’s attention the way that Naminé had smiled with mirth in mentioning the word "connections".

Apparently, her talk with Sora and Riku earlier—as Kairi had later been told about— hadn't gone to waste, and Naminé had even attempted calling her mom with magic (so that it couldn't be traced).

And after a very tearful and uplifting conversation, Naminé had promised she'd come home to her as soon as it was all over, and so Kairi had never been happier for her cousin. Not ever.

The only thing that could have made this moment better, Kairi thought, would have been if everyone had been around to celebrate it. She was pretty sure that Aqua, for instance, had gone to bed some time ago...

"Goofy!" Kairi spluttered, at once as her older friend trailed suddenly in front of her, so that he could get a turkey sandwich from the fridge. "We're _very_ sorry for dancing on your tables and stuff. If you want us to stop, or to leave or something like that, we'll--"

Really, Kairi wasn't even a hundred percent sure what she was doing or why she was saying what she was.

Goofy probably would have never guessed they'd been dancing on the tables before this, either, so it wasn't like she needed to be begging for forgiveness.

Maybe- maybe she just felt guilty that Riku seemed to be fighting a headache now, and that they might soon wake Sora up with their nose?

Wait a second... Why was Goofy now looking at her with the most solemn expression Kairi had ever seen on someone before?

The redheaded witch began choking back a sob. Whatever Goofy was about to tell her, it was absolutely terrible and game changing, wasn’t it?

And Kairi—even for all of the things that she tried to do, and maybe even thought she was—she knew she most certainly wasn't brave. Not at all.

And now… to undoubtedly hear from Goofy that Sora must’ve done something stupid, again, Kairi knew it would shatter her all ready crumbling spirit more than it all ready had been done; and that would also prove to her for once and for all that she was the biggest craven to walk the earth. She didn’t want this information right now!

And only after having _just_ finally let off some steam... Kairi selfishly didn't want the happy, cheerful feeling that she’d temporarily found herself in to fade away.

So running out of the room as fast as she was able to, Kairi left Goofy, Riku, Xion, Naminé—and maybe even Mickey, she wasn’t exactly sure—behind her, and she headed for her makeshift room. Only then did her tears reach her.

And when she did reach this room... it was only to regret it. This beautiful, navy blue room—with drawn Cake Pops in the shape stars dotting every surface, and a real balcony jutting out that led to a beautiful astrology tower—was too beautiful to be sullied like this. Even if tears, in the minds of many people, were meant to be pretty in their own right.

Walking out onto the terrace, and leaning over the railing there—and remembering, then, the many times that Sora had climbed up a dangerous, flower covered latter to her room when they’d been kids, Kairi told herself what she'd been afraid to admit down there in the kitchen with everybody.

Sora... he was gone, wasn't he? He'd gone to do something on his own, and now he hadn't come back.

And Kairi knew she would’ve been lying, if she said she hadn't felt a trace of this fact in her heart before, but she hadn't wanted to admit it: hadn't wanted to admit how everything that she'd finally started to build up again could disappear in one fell swoop.

And now... now Sora was gone, facing who knew what, and there was probably nothing she could do to help him. As it stood, Kairi had waited too late to acknowledge all of this, and--

"Miss Kairi..." The mayor's daughter turned around with tears in her eyes, but only for her expression to soften completely when she saw who was meeting here now. Mickey.

He'd been such a godsend to them all, Kairi knew. He had helped Sora, Naminé, Riku, and Goofy to find her, for one thing.

But much more than that, he'd been working feverishly to clear their names. And thanks to his endeavors, Sora and the others were starting to be labeled as victims and not the terrorists that everyone had been told to see them as.

And speaking of which, it still bothered Kairi that she'd never been under the scorn that Sora and the others had been—what was Ven's fascination with her, anyway?—but if it had proven to give Mickey less work, she knew she shouldn’t complain about it.

"Mister. Mickey," Kairi said kindly back, as she dried her eyes, and came back inside with him; she found that she was feeling strongly connected to Sora at the moment—even though he’d left—and in that, she was nearly feeling as afraid as heights as he often was. "What can I... what can I do for you? Please... you've done so much for us that there must be something, Sir."

And the strangest look appeared on Mickey’s face as she said this, Kairi noticed. It was like the expression someone might wear in seeing the deepest desire of their heart, but knowing they could never actually acquire it. How odd.

"I only wish I could do _more_ , Kairi," he explained, as he came to sit down on her bed bedside her. And even though every instinct in Kairi's body screamed that this could be a very bad thing, and that she should be backing out of the room quickly... she couldn't help thinking that Mickey belonged in her space and personal life like this.

There was just something about his dark, almost black hair that reminded her of something in one of her family photos, but that couldn't have been, right?

"I'm sorry I haven't been participating in much with you pals of late, either. I'd say it's the fault of my job, but that would also be a lie. I'm usually very extroverted, Kairi, but in this case—a type of situation I’ve never before seen in my life—I thought it best ta simply listen. And in that, I _have_ discovered some things. And I think... I think I should tell ya, despite what Goofy thinks."

"Tell me... what now?" Kairi asked confusedly, as she took to pacing around her room with her hands behind her back: something she often did when she was nervous or agitated.

And how she _wished_ that Sora were there with her, to help her define what she was all ready beginning to suspect—in his careful, sweet words—but that now she couldn’t even consider without near fainting.

"I'm sorry,” Kairi gasped somewhat crossly, as she found herself heading for the door, despite what she’d thought about gleaning this information earlier.

In fact, maybe she'd try and escape this whole situation by going to sleep in another room, or something.

And actually, sleeping right now seemed like a really good alternative, Kairi saw, for if she did that she might be able to contact Sora in her dreams… that definitely seemed like a plan.

"I really- I really can't understand what you're trying to tell me right now. Sorry." And how Kairi _greatly_ wished that she had discovered Sora’s ploy when it had happened and had gone with him. That way, she wouldn’t have to be here right now to hear all of this.

Or maybe… maybe she could’ve been going to Goofy’s side for information right now, and starving off the man who was no doubt about to tell her stuff about her family, that would ruin things forever in his doing so.

Alas, Kairi’s moment for escape never came, as Mickey swiftly told her one of the many things that deep down she knew that she _did_ need to hear:

"Goofy and I knew Sora's former babysitter 'Donald', Kairi. And we... we talked back then, and even suspected some things about Sora and his mysterious past and memories. I need you to Dream Walk and tell him some of these things. Can you do it? Tell him to focus on his memories of Donald, and--"

"I'll try it, okay? Kairi said surprisingly good-naturedly, after having swallowed deeply somewhat. "I’ll try it, but I can't promise anything. I wish I could, but dreams are tricky: you're never fully in control in them, and it might spin out of _my_ line of vision and into Sora’s. And I might even forget about our conversation entirely in it.

“Also... even if he listens to me, but thinks foremost about a possible dream he might have with Donald, if our prodding stirs it up, he might not be able to recall what he learned in the first dream to use it elsewhere. Dreams move in their own time, I mean, and we sometimes remember them out of order."

Still... Kairi thought savagely. Whether she remembered the Donald thing or not, Kairi knew that she _would_ find Sora in their shared dreams and try to comfort and help him as best she could.

If Aqua... if Aqua hadn't all ready beaten her to it, Kairi now thought with a start, as she began using her magic in order to fall asleep faster.

Wait, no... Aqua must’ve taken a “nap” after Sora had truly left, Kairi saw now. Except that she hadn’t napped at all, had she?! Everyone had assumed that, but really she must have followed after him, and-

Kairi could have killed Aqua in this moment! And here she'd been _against_ Naminé's suspicions of her before!

"Kairi..." Mickey said again, in an affectionate, soft voice—succeeding in bringing the redhead out of her trance, and also making her realize that she was acting like her old, fiery self again.

And here she'd thought she didn't have access to that part of her anymore, or the part of her that loved Sora. It just went to show that—

"Don't blame Aqua for this. At least in the dream, anyway; don't be thinking about her. And instead... think only of Donald before you use those powers. If you do that, even if you forget while you're in the throws of the fantasy, Sora will be sure to discover our intent, just by your coming in contact with him there."

Kairi had begun to think the same thing, honestly, as she now began rubbing at her temples tiredly. The last time she and Sora had Dream Walked together, they had almost seemed to be able to read each other’s minds, after all, and he’d seen—without her even saying anything about it—things that had led him to the truth about her secret location, but how--

How could someone with no magic know something like that?

But wording it much more politely than that, Kairi _did_ end up asking Mickey that exact question.

And after saying he was sure she all ready knew the answer to that, he turned and finally left her room—his cape billowing out behind him, just like Kairi's hair arced behind her when she walked.

Yes; she did know, didn't she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter and this one (and all the ones that will follow) were a bitch to edit. It’s my own fault, really, because I got so into the story at this point when I was writing it, that I accidentally stopped separating them into chapters. Oops.
> 
> And actually, it’s for that reason that last chapter ended earlier then I originally intended it to, but hopefully something like that won’t happen again. I greatly hope, anyway…
> 
> I’m determined to try and get this story done as soon as possible now, too, btw. That’s because it’s nearing SoKai Day again (which is when I originally first posted this story), and so it is unacceptable to me now that I’ve taken so long to post all of these, but we’ll see what ends up happening, I guess:)
> 
> Oh, and btw: Sora has had Donald’s soul in this story since childhood (similarly to how he had Ven’s heart in canon). Frankly, I think it’s obvious, and though I originally meant to leave that open for a while more (I think), I see no reason to do so now, so there you go=)
> 
> Things are going to speed up really soon now, btw. I hope that you’re all prepared;)
> 
> Thanks for everything, guys, and thanks for sticking with it this long.
> 
> -Shanna


	11. Enlightening One's Soul

**Sora’s PoV**

"Sora..." You snapped to attention, when a voice you would have never before expected came upon you. They seemed a bit close to you, too, which meant they were in your prison cell alongside you, didn't it?

Horror stories you'd heard in the past about how you could be raped too easily in jell flashed in your mind, and you sat up and clenched your hands into fists immediately.

Leaning down to look at you with a far too familiar face, but with weird articles on his clothes that you knew Roxas would have never worn, you looked into the cold, deep blue eyes of Ventus.

And doing a rather graceful back flip that you wouldn't have been able to do at all months ago, you rolled into the corner of the room where your weapon still resided, and prepared to attack.

Ventus sighed, and as he did so you noticed that the sound was somehow a lot higher pitched than you would’ve thought it to be. At that, you raised an eyebrow, despite yourself. Ven's demeanor somehow seemed to be much more kind and cheerful than you had guessed it to be.

You also noticed, with some surprise, that his features were somewhat lighter than his brother's own were. For instance, where Roxas had brown eyebrows, much the same color as your own, Ventus' was as yellow as a little ball of sunshine.

"You can't channel magic through that weapon, if that's what you're thinking," Ventus explained, to you in a very quick and excited tone. God, he even sounded like he had ADD as you had used to. "Even though your girlfriend gave it to you, and you both have a bit of magic in you, magic still doesn't work that way."

"Right," you snarled, remembering with a sudden vengeance all of the terrible things that Ventus had accomplished with the magic that he spoke of.

And you were jumping at him, in the dim and purple cage—that reminded you a bit of where the Beast had put the Christmas toys in that one movie—before you could stop yourself.

You knew that he could have been summoning Remnants to counter you at any possible moment, but with a blazing white fury you remembered what he had done to Kairi and Naminé, and you couldn’t care less.

He’d done bad things to his own ex-girlfriend, even, and wanted to do worse still, and for that... You wanted nothing more than to kill your traitorous cousin.

As you landed atop him, you thought that you just might. Your cane was digging into Ven's shoulder, so that the skin there separated and became a pussy, blood spattered mess.

And all the while, Ven just smiled at you. And if that wasn't a sign that he was evil and deranged, you didn't know what was. You _would_ kill him, you decided them—hooking your legs on either side of his waist to keep him there, in case he tried to move—and you tried to ignore just how much your heart wasn’t in this act.

If you were really set on… on murdering him, why weren’t you getting one of the chains from your bed to strangle him with, or something? One usually couldn’t be killed with a blunt object, after all.

And if you did somehow manage it... It would probably the most painful thing of all, so really strangulation would me the mercy kill here, but... you couldn’t even imagine hurting Ven now.

Why?! Why couldn’t you do it?!

"Come on, Sora," Ventus gasped out, in a voice that sounded too much like your own for comfort. "Don't tell me-- don't tell me that you really believed Xion's lies so easily,"

And as the twin with the wave-shaped spiky hair continued to grin beneath you, you realized the thing that you should have first noticed to begin with:

Ventus... he wasn't fighting you back at all! Granted, he might have just been trying to trick you, you supposed, but... with that tone in his voice-- he sounded like he wanted to die.

It was a sound that you'd heard from yourself before, when you'd been depressed and suicidal after having been diagnosed, but why would Ven—after all you'd heard about him before—ever want to die, or to act like this? And just what could he mean about Xion?

Pulling away from Ven and letting go of him—though making sure to keep a wary eye on him all the same, in case he decided to get funny—you decided that you wanted some answers...

And that you were still far too weak to be having the weight of the world on your shoulders right now. God, your hands were even shaking. How hadn’t you even noticed that?

"How do you even know me?!" you decided to question first, whilst moving to get your food tray from your bed to also use as a weapon if it came down to it.

And at once the lanky arms you saw being reflected back at you through the glass surprised you. Ventus was far skinnier and less built than you yourself were.

Sure it didn't look as though he used a blunt blade to bash at Remnants like you did, but even magic casting would have given him some muscle, shouldn’t it have? From what you'd seen of Naminé—

"Ugh!" you exclaimed, burying your hands in your hair and beginning to pull strands of it out. "Why doesn't anything make sense anymore? Why?!"

You knew if you didn’t quiet down you’d probably bring Terra back down on you again, but you seemed unable to contain any of your outrage.

Ventus, meanwhile, watched you the way one might watch a prowling lion.

"You!" you exclaimed, feeling a sudden kinsmanship with what Naminé had done to you earlier, as you held Ventus by the throat up against a wall.

You were so close to ending his pitiable existence, you could almost taste it. You just hated being confused! And unfortunately for Ventus, he had done nothing else but to confuse you, and to cause all the evil going on in the world at that very moment.

"What did you mean about Xion lying?! You'd better start giving me answers, Ven, or I swear I'll kill Terra, I swear it," you took a complete shot in the dark, guessing that Ven would somehow care about Terra, but it seemed to pay off.

Ven blanched at your words—and managed to worm his way out of your chokehold, and to look at you with blazing eyes—as he behave to your words the way you would’ve if someone had threatened someone that you loved.

"I was-- I was going to... ex- explain things," Ven said, as he started choking upon release, and even seemed near to expelling his lunch. You forced yourself not to feel badly for it, in knowing full well what kind of person he _really_ was; it would have been an insult to all of his victims if you had managed to feel something for him then, and yet-

"But you attacked me before I could, Sora! Even after I’d come in here all peacefully, by myself, and locked myself in here with you. What does that tell you?"

It spoke of good faith, you realized then—the term you'd heard many times in school coming back to you in this moment.

School… had your life ever been as normal as just attending that? You could hardly even believe it now. But as memories of you and Kairi climbing trees, traversing up the Islands' dormant volcanoes, and way too much homework returned to you, you knew that it had been.

And Ven… he was right. You _had_ just beaten the stuffing out of him, without having heard his side: something even the old, bitter you probably wouldn’t have been able to do.

Had the darkness gotten to you to? Were you becoming just a remnant of the good person you’d used to be?

"Ventus," you uttered, doubling over yourself as you tried to catch your breath on the cold floor. "Explain to me what you want to, or I _will_ kill you to save everyone else. Do you understand? Unfortunately, there's no middle ground for any of us anymore, so _talk_."

_If you really care about Terra, maybe you’re not as far gone as I’d thought you to be. I’m giving you this one chance, Ventus. So_ please _… please don’t blow it._

"The best answer's usually the obvious one, Sora," Ven charmed you, sounding surprisingly energetic again, as he smiled at you widely--as if you hadn't just tried to kill him, and might again begin to, if he didn’t get to the point.

…Not that such violence wasn’t something the Consul could endure, you reminded yourself.

"First of all... I’ve never once dated Xion, and I never will. Despite what she might have told you, you’ve only ever seen her with Roxas... And let me ask you this now, Sora: can you imagine Xion _ever_ having been with anyone else _but_ Roxas? Even his twin?"

No... no you couldn't, you finally realized. How many times had you marveled, after all, at how perfect Roxas and Xion seemed to be together? How many times had you noted that Xion even seemed to be the slightest bit obsessed with him?

Crazy obsessed, even: the kind you were when you met someone you knew that you’d never, _ever_ relinquish—not even if it was for their own good, but that didn't explain anything-

"And as for how I’m so similar to you... I've been watching over you your whole life, Sora. You never knew I was there, but I was always near you."

"I don't know how I feel about that particular stalking claim," you admitted, trying discreetly to see if you could summon _some_ kind of magic to try and escape. No dice, except for a small crackling of static electricity within your hands.

Yeah… stalking didn’t exactly inspire much trust, did it? And despite all Ven had just been saying, and the empathetic card he'd been trying to play with you, who knew just what he was capable of?

"And what is it with everyone secretly watching me this day? First Donald, if my dream even means anything, and now--"

"I did it, Sora, ‘cause I was curious about the kinda medication my brother told your parents to give you, and that it was starting to change you somehow. You were probably too young to have remembered it, Sora, but I _did_ meet you a few times when we were kids.

“But after that, after you turned four, I couldn't approach you anymore. And even then Roxas began doing bad things—like hurting animals, in the hellhole that we lived in—and he blamed _me_ for it, and…  And people believed him, since we look so much alike.

“I... I was labeled the black sheep of the family then. And the few times I was older, and secretly tried to check up on you, also sullied my image.

I won't… I won’t pretend that I'm perfect... I grew bitter about society, and even made some revealing videos that went viral, but... for as long as I can remember, _Roxas_ has been stealing my identity to do terrible things. And now he's doing it to do the most awful sort of thing at all, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't understand his reasoning.”

And here Ven seemed to finally find the strength to pull himself off the ground, and make his way towards you. And despite the truth and regret you heard in his words, it somehow seemed to be at odds with his story.

You became scared of him, and tried to back up even further into the corner, but Ven didn’t even seem to notice at all. Instead, he was lost in the storm of what seemed to be his memories. His eyes vacant and pained all at once somehow.

“He's... he's trying to condition people to be the way that he likes, to be peaceful and fair, so there can be a world where everyone can thrive. But... the means he's trying to reach that aren't right. _None_ of this is. He's become a self-obsessed, bitter tyrant. And he needs to be stopped... before he can raze this world and make everyone like him."

All of Ventus’ blaming Roxas had to be a clever ruse, didn’t it? You _knew_ Roxas—hell, you loved the man, and for the longest time he’d been one of the people closest to you—and Xion had sworn… 

But even as you tried to defend your cousin in your mind, the truth rang out loud and clear. Roxas was very much the more intense twin; Roxas was the one who worked for the Council, and always seemed to be missing during key events; Roxas was the one that Xion loved and would defend to the end...

And perhaps most importantly, you realized now? He'd mysteriously called you about Kairi right after you’d broken in and saved her, hadn't he? He'd been trying to throw you off his trail with that, whilst being threatening at the same time.

And he... he, after saying how you were all now criminals, had made you just that! _No one_ could have reported on what you had done at the Council Building as early as he had after all, and yet—

And yet you couldn't believe it, you promised yourself as you began to feel faint. You wouldn't!

There was a time when you’d thought Roxas to be one of the few people you loved, who would always have your back...

Now you knew all the disgusting things he'd done to you—even as kids!—for some reason, and…

How the hell were you supposed to survive in this new, gut-wrenching world where one family finally loved you (your parents, Riku, and all of your new friends), but another had betrayed you in the worst possible way?!

Roxas... he was the cause of the Remnants and everything, you acknowledged while you tried to slap yourself awake from this nightmare—all the while that Ven sized you up helplessly. _He_ was the person whispering into the Council's ears: a picture that you could see in your mind’s eye all too easily, and yet you couldn't accept it at all.

But even though that _was_ the case, you still had it in you to hold a hand out to Ven and ask him all the same, "This is all true, then? Roxas is-- There isn't _another_ trick about to be played on me?"

You knew that you must have sounded much like a lost and sad child, but you didn’t know how you were supposed to avoid such a thing, either.

With a sad turn to his lips that Roxas would have never been able to enact—for his face was permanently set into a scowl—Ventus gave you your answer in two ways, instead of one.

"Yes... it all stinks, but unfortunately it’s the truth. I wish that it _wasn't_ true, but Sora... We can't dwell on the past and what-ifs just yet. We need to stop Roxas before he can do anything worse.

“Now, let's go. I stole the key before coming in here, so let's get outta here before Rox spots us. His whole life he's been pretending to be me, and so now it's my turn to play at being him to get us the heck outta here."

And the cheeky look that Ven wore on his face then wasn't unlike Kairi's own at all.

And that... that right there gave you hope and direction when nothing else did.

_I'll see you soon, Kairi; I promise_ , you thought, once again taking her cane up into your hand. I promise.

Finally, you followed Ventus to lead you out into the unknown.

**Kairi’s PoV**

Kairi ran outside and stood on the cliff there, without even really thinking about it. Rain fell down fast and thickly in front of her, very much like a sheet of hail, as she looked through the darkness all about her.

Where… just where had she seen Sora in her dream? As Kairi had expected before having even attempted to meet with him, she hadn't been able to keep her priorities straight in the dream world, and therefore hadn’t asked him for his location or anything like that.

In Kairi's mind now, she was very much a failure as a girlfriend, but that didn't mean that she was going to give up without a fight, either!

After all... she was almost certain that she'd caused Sora to dream of Donald, just by being by his side in their shared space. And if that was the case... Maybe Sora _had_ somehow told her how to find him, and she just hadn’t realized it yet?

Sora might not have had true power like she, Naminé, and Xion did, but she wouldn't have put it past him to figure out a way to do something like that.

"Kairi," Xion seemed to call out to Kairi in a chastising tone, as she opened the sliding door on the side of Goofy's house—that led to a nice, miniature garden—and then tried to pull the hoping girl back in: something that Kairi certainly didn't take lying down. As far as she was concerned, every moment she wasted sitting idly by was an instant she could have been trying to get to Sora better.

"What do you think you're doing, going out searching for Sora like that in this weather? You don't even know where he is, silly girl! You'll get yourself pneumonia, or some such nonsense, and then where will both of you be?"

"Better than you!" Kairi replied viciously, as she snatched her arm away from Xion's grip, and fought the urge to backhand the brunette one. She wasn't sure exactly... but there had been something about Xion's demeanor just a moment ago that had set her up with foreboding and a bit of horror.

Later, Kairi would wonder how Xion had even met them at Goofy's mansion in the first place—when Naminé should had wards up to prevent such a thing—but right now, Kairi's mind was desperately trying to catch at something else: a discrepancy she hadn't noticed before, or maybe some sort of hint...

Hell, maybe even just one of those insane enlightenments that Sora seemed to get at times. But whatever it was, and for whatever the reason, Kairi was beginning to suspect very strongly that something was amiss, and that if she continued to miss it, it would put all of their lives' at risk...

What was it she had told Sora in their first shared dream that had started everything, Kairi wondered as she ran out further into the night, almost down the slope of the hill? That the Consul had wanted to better his own life at the cost of everyone else’s.

It all seemed to hit Kairi like a tow truck now, as she nervously turned to face Xion—who was following her—and she realized just what it was they all should’ve seen before.

"Xion… you- you and Roxas w-were planning to move into a better apartment... And that—doesn’t that go exactly with how I realized my kidnapper was partly doing what he was for a life of luxury?

“And Roxas... he's on the Council! So of course he could have been whispering to the people there all this time... And you-- you love Roxas, not Ventus; you’ve never loved Ventus, and so that’s why -"

Roaring, Kairi lunged at Xion, who had discreetly seemed to be heading back to Goofy’s house now—where none of the people there would have been the wiser to her treachery—with a malicious smile on her face.

Kairi punched Xion squarely in the chin, feeling satisfactory as she heard the bone crack there, and saw Naminé’s soul-stealer fall to her knees.

Summoning some light magic into her palms, Kairi meant to finish just what they’d finished in Twilight Town, as she realized that Xion was very much the opposite of what love should be—like the love that Kairi herself carried for Sora—in every way possible.

"You love Roxas, and so you planned to throw this world—all of us!—to the dogs, even though your conscience has been berating you for it this whole time!"

But this time, it was not Kairi who was making a ball of magic appear in her hand, but rather Xion.

The redhead had just enough time to do a quick back flip, and hide behind a sand dune, before everything in her field of vision turned into flames.

Fortunately, the two of them were well away from Goofy’s abode, and Kairi couldn’t help thinking it a good thing, even if they were on a ledge that wasn’t exactly safe.

The way the flames danced before her, inviting Kairi to jump in, made her worry how those not accustomed to magic might have been tempted by it. And here this was usually her element, too!

“Stupid Kairi!” Xion shouted—in a decibel that was very much surprising for her, Kairi knew—as she began looking for her hiding target. “We were resigned to let you go. I really did want to be friends with you, for you’re not as… _inadequate_ as that Sora is, so now you just had to mess everything up!”

And before Kairi could protest—or do anything far too brave at all—she found that her hair had come alight in the worst way possible, and that Xion was now upon her.

In a perfect world, Kairi knew that she would have been stopping, dropping, and rolling to get rid of it, but Xion was now trying to get at her face with what looked like rain and thunder encased in her hands, and so she could not.

And as if Mother Nature was also now their enemy, for using her powers in such ill-intended and destructive ways, the entire mountain that the two ladies were on began to fall away on them. And there was a city below to boot, too!

Summoning a blade to her hand, that was much like Sora’s, Kairi tried to block and fend off some of Xion’s attacks as she remained atop her.

She wasn’t having much luck. With her love and self-hatred combined, Xion had become like a raging inferno that Kairi could see was near impossible to stop.

She'd relied too heavily on Naminé's powers in the past, and so as she just barely dodged another attack from the brunette, and rolled into the sand to catch her breath, Kairi knew without a doubt some of the larger boulders were rolling down onto the houses below and crushing them.

It was then that Kairi got an idea. Her burnt hair wasn’t bothering her anymore, for the sand had washed most of it clean, but if she could somehow put some of that same treatment onto Xion, maybe she’d be able to get just enough footing to stop her!

"You don't understand anything," Xion muttered, as she most surprisingly pulled away from the mayor’s daughter, but not at all with the sort of vindictive expression Kairi had expected her to wear. Instead, it was a countenance of deep sadness, and maybe even just a little bit of hope.

Kairi sprung to her feet, and hastily began trying to use some wind magic to catch some of the embers and rocks that had yet to fall. How she longed to peer over the edge of the cliff, and to see how everyone was doing beneath her, but she knew she couldn’t risk it.

"If you'd stop throwing accusations my way, maybe I'd help you--that's was what I was originally meant to do about Ven... err, Roxas, anyway. And it's something I want to do still, so..."

Except that the ex-agent couldn’t _help_ him, Kairi saw, reluctantly turning her gaze back to the broken woman before her… Not so long as Roxas was in her life, anyway.

Xion... she wasn't actually evil at all, was she? In fact, she didn't even really seem to be in _love_ with Roxas. This was a case of Stockholm syndrome if Kairi had ever seen one.

Roxas had, for one thing, taken Xion’s soul, but was there even more to it then that?

Xion… she could use water spells as Roxas must have been able to (for he was the one controlling that unpurified water there, wasn’t he?), but she had access to the pure version somehow.

And the way that Xion wielded fire... as if it was something that was a great help to her, but also somewhat a hindrance, seemed to hint well of the bond she had with her beloved Roxas.

Sora's cousin had taken Xion over through and through, until even the magic she used was reminiscent of him.

And with her fire magic... she was meant to avenge whomever it was that Roxas had lost in the fire, Kairi understood now: the very thing that had really sent Roxas down this warpath.

“Oh, Xion. No-" Kairi began, thinking of summoning some sort of cooling magic herself to help extinguish the flames, but worrying that she might somehow set Xion even more off if she were to do so. “That's really what you believe, isn't it? It’s even how you sleep at night, by telling yourself that you're just playing your part well and that you’ll bust Roxas tomorrow.

“You lie and say that you're just getting sidetracked by one kiss or two, and that you'll snap out of it, but wake up! Roxas has his claws in you so deep that you're not even _you_ anymore! And what's more than that: you can't even see it!

“Why don't you ask your old self how you would have felt about this? Or can you even remember that far back? You're nothing now, Xion. Absolutely nothing. And all of the blood spilt, like your own that Roxas did, is on _your_ hands!"

And despite against how she’d felt sympathetic towards Xion when she’d first started her words, Kairi now found that there was no one in her _life_ that she wanted to destroy more.

It would have been one thing, if she thought Xion could actually break free of the chains that bound her and forget about Roxas entirely.

But all ready—heedless to the way that tears were falling down her face, because she must have known that Kairi was right with every word of it—she was trying to crawl free from the wreckage that she had leaned back into, and to attack Kairi with teeth and nails. Her nails were acting so much as claws, that Kairi was almost surprised that the girl hadn’t yet magicked them to be exactly that.

But what was she thinking? She didn’t have _time_ for this right now! And even though Kairi knew she ought to have been ending the lost cause that Xion was, lest she just cause trouble for them down the road, she knew... well, she knew well that she was no slaughterer.

If she were to kill Xion in cold blood—when the girl couldn’t even move now, and really didn’t even seem to want to, as she was somewhat punishing herself, it seemed—wouldn't she then be just as bad as Roxas was?

Besides, Naminé’s soul existed within Xion somewhere... and if they were going to get it back... didn't that mean that Xion had to live?

"They... they killed Roxas' triplet by fire right in front of him," Xion said imploringly, just as Mickey, Goofy, Riku, and Naminé finally seemed to realize what was going on, and came up beside the two girls.

Goofy looked especially worried, as he threw a glance in Xion's way. And though Kairi was pretty sure that Goofy must have figured out that she was a traitor, he still looked so sad for her and her plight.

How-- how would it feel to have a heart that big, Kairi wondered? as she tried at it herself, by using massive Aero spells to try and extinguish the whole area.

But even with all that she was doing, Kairi didn't think she could ever be as good as Goofy was, and nor should she ever even try, probably.

"The Council, I mean, and just because his family couldn't pay the bills. Or rather, thugs working on their behalf did that, I should say. And Roxas... apparently he used to believe that Vanitas somehow bore more of his own soul, as did Vanitas his.

“It—it positively killed Roxas to lose his brother like that. And after it happened... he promised himself he'd make a world where stuff like that couldn't happen. A lot of his ideas are _good_ ; they really are.

“And can you-- can you really blame him for wanting to get revenge for that, or for going a little bit crazy afterwards? He was just a child! Just a child! And all he wants... all he wants is to douse everyone's souls in water, so they're less excitable and maybe more tame. Is that really such a bad thing?!"

The scariest part about Xion’s story to Kairi? That not so long ago, she thought Sora might have had a similar mindset to Roxas. And she-- _she_ had loved him all the same, hadn't she? And so she always would’ve. And so to that end... was she really all that different from Xion, Kairi asked herself?

Falling to the ground below her—and fighting back a wretched sob that she didn’t think Xion deserved to see—Kairi looked up at the stars above her, and wondered if Roxas was really as bad as all of them were thinking he was.

And she was just about to give her own two-cents on it all, but Goofy ended up beating her to the punch.

"Ya can' blame many for the mistakes of the few, Miss Xion. An’ if I'm not mistaken now... even the water he means to use is tainted."

And Kairi, after everything she'd seen lately, wasn't even the slightest bit shocked when Goofy and Mickey both started using the slightest bit of magic—something she thought they'd been incapable of until now—and seemed to be trying to clean Xion's heart to try and save her by it.

Had Goofy maybe even healed Sora in a similar way, Kairi pondered now? It was a positive thought and a negative one all at the same time.

Roxas... Roxas was Sora's mirror, wasn't he? Kairi secretly internalized then, as she, Naminé, and Riku began heading off into the night: in the direction of where the blonde was undoubtedly now tracking Sora.

And... what would happen when those two finally met? Would the original break, or the mirror that he'd tried to cover up for so long meet his end?

Or would it even be like the tale of doppelgangers, where the weight of it _all_ would crush them both instantaneously?

Kairi wasn't the least bit excited to find this answer out, but she hurried along, anyway—shrugging off the many people below the mountain who had recognized her from the news, and now even saw her as their savior for what she had done for them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cutting this chapter a little bit short, but it’s probably for the best. Also, this thing is long enough as it is.
> 
> And no, there isn’t going to be another man behind the man. Roxas really IS the villain of this story (and I bet you’re so mad at me for that right now, Liz, seeing as how much you love Roxas).
> 
> But what can I say? Somehow when I was writing chapter one of this story, I just KNEW that Roxas was the bad guy, and I didn’t turn away from that idea. In fact, I’ve been hinting at it the whole time (and that Xion was also somewhat evil, but hers is more Stockholm syndrome than anything else), so hopefully you guys somewhat noticed it so this doesn’t seem too out of left field.
> 
> So, yeah: what do you guys think about it? Personally, I think it’s kind of fun to do this for a change, as Xehanort as the villain gets a bit tired, right? I’ll probably never do this again, but for this story I’ll explore the possibility of an evil Roxas and Xion.
> 
> Besides, part of me wonders if SE originally intended for Roxas to be evil (Re:Coded really seems to hint at possible early ideas for him, maybe?), and maybe even Naminé? (To be clear, Naminé is NOT AT ALL EVIL IN THIS STORY. I’m just wondering if maybe SE originally planned that for her in CoM and changed their minds about it later.)
> 
> As for Xion, I guess she originally WAS meant to be evil in canon, as she was supposed to be like Repliku with Riku, and to fight over with Roxas which one of them had the right to exist. Yeah… 
> 
> Personally, I’m so glad that canon made them all good, because otherwise it would have been tired and cliché, but I’m still trying it here. XD
> 
> Plus, in this Roxas is more a well-intentioned extremist than anything else. Yep.
> 
> So to be clear, Roxas’ (and Ven’s, as they’re triplets) brother, Vanitas (just pretend he looks like Venitas, I guess?), was murdered by the Council. So Roxas, to get revenge and to make the world a better place, decided to start messing with people’s souls to make them more agreeable. He also happened to do this by making the Council his pawns.
> 
> Meanwhile, Xion was some sort of detective, got wind of this all, and was supposed to go and stop him, but she somehow ended up falling in love with and agreeing with him (somewhat) instead. And they actually really do love each other.
> 
> Anyway, please review, guys. And see you all next time!
> 
> Edit: Was anyone else reminded of when Harry’s strangling Sirius in TPoA, when Sora was doing that to Ven here? LOL.


End file.
